Don't open door far Farage

Swinney says Sarwar has failed to rule out Reform deal. He claims move is sign of Labour leader's desperation

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JOHN Swinney has accused Anas Sarwar of "opening the door" for Nigel Farage in a "desperate" bid to become first minister.

The Scottish Labour leader has ruled out "coalitions or agreements" with Reform UK after the next Holyrood election.

But the First Minister said he feared Sarwar would "give in" to Farage and urged him to rule out any cooperation with the party.

He said: "If people vote for Labour, they're opening the door for Farage to influence Scottish politics. I don't think we should open that door. I think we should close that door very firmly." Opinion polls have found Scottish Labour's vote share has plummeted since Keir Starmer became prime minister.

But some show a narrow majority of pro-UK MSPs could be returned, with the SNP in line to remain the largest party.

Sarwar could become FM if anti-immigration Reform wins seats and backs him in the vote to be first minister.