Nigel Farage challenged to debate over 'racist' Anas Sarwar advert - despite Labour by-election candidate ducking hustings

Despite the Prime Minister reportedly wanting to go head-to-head with Farage ahead of the next General Election, Sarwar is the only leading Labour figure to demand an immediate debate.

Sarwar said: “Come up here. I’ll challenge him anytime, any place, in Hamilton, any town hall, and he can challenge me on my views, I’ll challenge him on his views, and you can see that the people of Scotland will utterly reject him, because he can’t win there and he can’t win in Scotland.

"This man wants to pretend he’s a great champion of working people across our country. While I was working in Scotland’s NHS in one of the most deprived communities in the country, he was on the Brussels gravy train.

"While I’m campaigning to defend our NHS and save our NHS, this man wants to privatise our NHS. He’s got no interest in Scotland. He probably couldn’t even tell you where Hamilton was on the map.”

However, Sarwar's demand for a face-off comes after Labour's Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse candidate Davy Russell was accused of dodging public hustings, a TV debate and media interviews.

The Scottish Labour leader said: "That's a matter for the campaign team and the campaign."

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The Reform ad, which both Labour and the SNP have demanded be removed from Facebook, has clips of Sarwar speaking about persuading more Pakistani people to go in to politics.

Sarwar, who was also clipped saying he will “prioritise” Pakistani people, made the comments during an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence.

Speaking at a press conference in London yesterday, Farage defended Reform's campaign.

He said: “All we’ve done is to put out the exact words spoken by him without any comment. We’ve said nothing, just that we will represent the people of that constituency."

The Reform UK leader added: "The fact that they, having chosen to go down the sectarian route, choose to throw accusations back at us says to me that we are winning.”

Despite last week's Reform race row, Sarwar previously hit out at First Minister John Swinney over his anti-Farage summit in April.

Sarwar, who joined Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay and Scottish Liberal Democrat chief Alex Cole-Hamilton in condemning the summit, said: "John Swinney is talking Reform UK up because it’s a helpful political tool for his party, rather than taking on the issues that are pushing people towards them."

Meanwhile, Swinney doubled-down on his accusations against Farage following Reform's "racist" advert row.

The First Minister said: "Anas Sarwar is a political rival of mine but he should not be subjected to that kind of racist attack."

Opinion polls suggest Reform UK is cementing its place in Scottish politics, with Swinney even admitting the populist party is in a three-horse race ahead of next Thursday's Holyrood by-election in Hamilton.

Farage had previously struggled to breakthrough north of the border, failing to ever return a Eurosceptic MSP to Edinburgh.

However, Reform's support now stands between 12 and 19 per cent, putting it well-above its disappointing 2021 performance of just 0.21 per cent.

The Reform UK leader is even expected to visit Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse ahead of June 5.

Farage tended to steer clear of campaigning north of the border following a disturbing encounter with left-wing activists outside a pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

The then-Ukip leader, who was visiting the Scottish capital in 2013, was whisked away in a police riot van under a tirade of abuse from a crowd of about 50 young demonstrators.