Reform is the party of failed Tories, racists and billionaires
Responding to the announcement of the new Reform shadow cabinet, Green MSP Patrick Harvie said:
“Reform UK claims it wants to change Britain, yet it is filling its ranks with far right extremists and washed-up Tories.
“These are the very same Tories who inflicted a decade of austerity on communities across Scotland. The same Tories who imposed the cruel two-child cap and rape clause. The same Tories who forced through a disastrous Brexit against Scotland’s clear democratic will. Masquerading as Nigel Farage’s fictional cabinet does not change any of that.
“Reform is a party funded by the super rich for the super rich. Our services are not safe in their hands and nor are workers rights. No party that cared about the lives of normal people and families would appoint these people into senior roles.
“For years the Tories tried to pretend that they respected all four UK nations as equal partners. Those words ring hollow today. Now we see former Tories abandoning even the pretence of respect for devolution and joining a party that openly flirts with abolishing the Scottish Parliament altogether.
Patrick added:
“Scotland was promised respect in 2014 if we voted No. Instead, we were dragged out of the European Union against our will and subjected to policies we did not vote for, by people we did not vote for.
“We’ve been told time and time again by the UK Government that we won’t get another say on our independence. Enough is enough.
“With the very real prospect of a far-right Reform government that Scotland did not vote for, the case for another independence referendum is more crucial than ever.
“Nigel Farage’s suggestion that powers should be hoarded back to Westminster, and that the Scottish Parliament could be scrapped is not what Scotland voted for in 2014, and it is not a future that people here will accept."