Nigel Farage takes aim at John Swinney's 'ridiculous' comments after claiming Reform leader 'doesn't care' about Scotland: 'They're lashing out at me!'

As the by-election race in the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse enters its final days, Swinney claimed Farage "poses a threat" to Scottish values.

He stated: "Be in no doubt, Nigel Farage doesn’t care about Scotland. He poses a threat to our values and must be stopped, and only the SNP can do that.

"The SNP is the only party investing in Scotland’s future, delivering for families and confronting Farage. On Thursday, vote SNP to stop Farage."

Responding to the remarks, Farage told the People's Channel: "Scotland is a remarkable place, isn't it? I used to come a lot years ago when I was a good golfer, and try to catch the salmon.

"I've got other links in Scotland, but look, to say that I don't care about Scotland, it's like saying I don't care about Northumberland or don't care about Wales, they're just ridiculous comments."

Noting the frustration felt by the major political parties towards the surging popularity of Reform, Farage stated: "What we're seeing I think are mistakes being made by other party leaders.

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"They're lashing out at me left, right and centre because they're scared. And they're scared because the Reform vote is on the rise. They're scared because we're prepared to take on the failed consensus."

Pressed by GB News reporter Tony McGuire on his stance on net zero, Farage was questioned on whether he would support the building of battery storage in Scotland, to help bring down the estimated £1billion in constraint payments.

Farage explained: "I've been told for 25 years, since 2000, that battery storage for wind energy was coming, and it would be effective. 25 years on, it is not.

"What we must not do, what would be a huge mistake, is to put all our eggs in the wind farm basket and to hope that battery storage comes along that is affordable and effective."

Hitting out at the premature "destruction" of the oil and gas industries, Farage added: "What I'm here to talk about is the wilful destruction of an oil and gas industry that is going to be needed for decades to come.

"This is being done for reasons of political ideology, and it makes no sense at all. It will do enormous damage, not just to Aberdeen and the surrounding area, to Scotland, to the whole of the UK. It is a wilful, wanton destruction of an industry that has frankly been supported by both the Conservative and Labour parties."

Hailing his new "Doge" department, Farage told GB News: "The Doge team has gone into County Hall in Maidstone in Kent this very morning. A team of young tech entrepreneurs who are not being paid, they're doing it of their own free will, and we're going in to have a look at Kent, have a look at the contracts to have a look at the expenditure.

"We hope that the Kent chief executive and the council will work with us because, of course many of the decisions on spending would have been political decisions. But Doge is active, up and running as we speak."