Greens more extreme than Reform, says Scottish Tory leader

Russell Findlay highlighted one Greens candidate calling for the abolition of prisons and plans to ‘effectively’ legalise cocaine and heroin.

The Scottish Greens are more extreme than Reform UK, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said.

Russell Findlay attacked the left-wing party after one of its candidates in the Holyrood election backed the abolition of prisons.

He also accused the party of wanting to “effectively” legalise heroin and crack cocaine.

In an interview with the Press Association, Mr Findlay also accused the SNP of having a “bitter streak of Anglophobia”.

He said he disagreed with Reform’s claim that Scotland was “at breaking point”, but added that “uncontrolled mass migration” was putting pressure on public services.

Mr Findlay was asked whether he agreed with the SNP and Scottish Labour that an attack claiming Anas Sarwar would prioritise the Pakistani community was racist. Mr Findlay insisted he still had not seen the ad, a year after it first aired.

Tory MSPs have previously attacked both the Reform and the Greens parties as being extreme.

Asked which party he considered more extreme, the Scottish Conservative leader told PA: “It’s a tough question. I genuinely think the Greens, if you just look at some of what they are proposing.

“Just this week, we’ve had a senior candidate who may well end up in Holyrood saying we should abolish prisons. That would mean murderers and rapists aren’t locked up.

“It is their policy that heroin and crack cocaine should be effectively legalised, which would cause further devastation and drugs deaths in Scotland.”

Mr Findlay also criticised the Greens’ support for withdrawing from Nato, saying it would put Scotland in “grave danger”.

“So, I think the Greens actually win that contest,” he said.

It comes after Kate Nevens, the Green candidate for the Edinburgh and Lothians East list seat, faced cross-party criticism after describing herself as a prison “abolitionist” who wanted to “see the complete abolition” of the prison system.

Mr Findlay also attacked Reform UK, saying the party “cannot be trusted in the union” and arguing it was “not conservative”.

Mr Findlay refused to be drawn on whether he believed the party’s attack ad against Mr Sarwar was racist, saying: “I’m not interested in what Reform do or say.” He added he had not seen the video.

The video, which the party paid thousands to promote on social media, showed a clip of Mr Sarwar talking about the representation of South Asian people, before a caption claiming Mr Sarwar would prioritise the Pakistani community in Scotland.

Reform recently unveiled two Holyrood election vans that showed migrants, all non-white, on a small boat along with the words “Scotland is at breaking point”, and a caption below reading: “Glasgow has become the illegal migrant capital of the UK. Only Reform Scotland will stop this.”

During the Holyrood campaign trail last week, Mr Sarwar said both the ad and billboard amounted to “race-baiting”.

Mr Findlay, who said he would not describe the billboard as racist, said immigration rows in Scotland only suited First Minister John Swinney and Reform.

The Scottish Tory leader accused the SNP of “wanting to turn everything into England is bad, and somehow everything is better in Scotland”.

“I think we are a proud family of nations,” he said, before adding:” We are the United Kingdom – that is where our strength lies.

“I find it so bad that so much of the SNP’s nationalist politics is based upon a pretty bitter streak of Anglophobia, and I think we should have no place for that whatsoever.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said it was “remarkable” Mr Findlay was “not embarrassed or ashamed to be leading a party that inflicted 14 years of misery on Scotland and is on course for its worst ever election result”.

They added: “The daft and extreme policies that his party introduced and that he wanted Scotland to replicate hiked up bills for families all over Scotland and plunged tens of thousands of children into totally avoidable poverty.

“He’s dragged his party in an increasingly extreme direction, shedding votes and principles every step of the way in a desperate bid to mimic Reform.

“This election will make clear that the people of Scotland have had more than enough of him and his party and the destructive policies that they stand for.”

Emma Harper, SNP candidate for Galloway and West Dumfries, said: “Scots won’t forget it was the Tories who crashed our economy while Russell Findlay cheered Liz Truss on from the sidelines.

“Russell Findlay’s plans to slash support for children and disabled people to cut taxes for millionaires show that the Tories will never change.

“While the Tories fight it out for fourth place at this election, the concern for Scottish voters is that Anas Sarwar will strike a grubby deal with Russell Findlay in his desperate attempt to gain power. It is telling that the Labour Party is the only party that Findlay chooses not to have a pop at.

“The only way to stop a grubby deal between Labour, the Tories and Nigel Farage is by uniting behind John Swinney’s strong and trusted leadership to deliver an SNP majority and give Scotland a fresh start with independence.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “The height of the Scottish Tories’ ambition is to attempt to deny the SNP a majority, while Reform are happy to carp from the sidelines while allowing the SNP to regain power.

“Scottish Labour is seeking to boot the SNP out of power after 19 years of failure and offer the people of Scotland the chance to take a new direction with Anas Sarwar.”