How Nigel Farage let his mask slip and revealed what he'd really do to Scotland
Reform UK would trash Scotland’s public services to win over voters in its English heartlands
On Monday, Nigel Farage finally hauled himself away from his holidays and found his way up to Scotland (apparently for only the third time in five years). And while the media can never resist a circus, during his interviews with journalists, Farage let the mask slip.
The Clacton MP blurted out his plans to replace the Barnett Formula – the funding mechanism that ensures Scotland gets a fair deal for devolved services based on the UK Government’s spending in England.
It was as a result of the Barnett Formula that the UK Labour government delivered the largest budget settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution and £5.2 billion of additional funding for Scottish public services. This means that overall spending per head of population can be as much as 17 per cent higher in Scotland.
Historic imbalances
Last year, the Scottish Government’s own figures found that spending in Scotland outstripped all the revenues raised by over £22bn, even when North Sea taxes were taken into account. That means people in Scotland benefit from £2,417 more per head of additional spending compared to the UK average.
In other words, it’s the Barnett Formula that addresses historic imbalances and ensures that wealth is redistributed throughout the UK so that everyone has the best chance of accessing our NHS and using public services, no matter where they live.
But Farage isn’t interested in delivering for Scotland. He is an English nationalist who called as early as 2014 for the Barnett Formula to go, and as leader of the so-called UK Independence Party told the BBC: "We've heard a lot from Scotland but the tail cannot go on wagging the dog any longer."
Farage does not only have contempt for Scotland – it extends to our NHS. He has repeatedly called for the NHS to be privatised and replaced with health insurance. In other words, forcing working families to pay from their own pockets for lifesaving care.
Feeding off voters’ despair
Now, with his comments on scrapping the Barnett Formula, the Reform leader has said the quiet part out loud. Reform would trash our public services to win over voters in its English heartlands.
I understand why Nigel Farage appeals to voters. He’s like the scam artist who targets people at their lowest – and the reality is that after nearly two decades of the SNP’s managed decline, Scots are fed up.
But Reform are feeding off this despair without offering any real solutions of their own. So let’s be under no illusion – the former stockbroker is not interested in Scotland. He doesn’t understand Scotland and he really doesn’t care about Scotland.
Rather than trying to come up with genuine ideas to improve our NHS or public services, Farage is spending thousands on racist adverts targeting Scottish Labour’s leader, Anas Sarwar.
Anas is a former NHS dentist who was born and brought up in Glasgow and has spent his life campaigning for working Scots. And unlike Reform, Scottish Labour has made fixing the NHS our number one priority.
Scots who are sick of the SNP’s incompetence are right to want change – but it’s Scottish Labour that is ready to deliver it.
Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health
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