Millionaire Tory donor Malcolm Offord defects to Nigel Farage's Reform UK and launches campaign for Holyrood

The former Scotland Office minister will also be handing back his peerage and leaving the House of Lords to focus on the election campaign.

His defection was announced at a Reform rally in Falkirk where Mr Farage once again refused to speak directly to the Scottish media.

When asked why Mr Farage was not speaking directly to the media, Mr Offord said: “Well he has been here for the last three hours and doing the whole show.”

The Scottish media had wanted to ask Mr Farage questions about numerous allegations of historic racism and antisemitism when he was a teenager.

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Holocaust survivors have also asked Mr Farage to apologise for the allegations. When asked if he should apologise, Mr Offord said: “I think that is something that he needs to consider himself with his own advisers.

“I’ve only just arrived today and I’m not commenting on a matter I know nothing about.”

He did however tell journalists that Mr Farage is “morally fit to be prime minister”.

Hundreds attended the rally at the Inchyra Macdonald Hotel on Saturday, which was also playing host to a wedding in another part of the hotel.

The venue had been provided to Reform UK for free by Donald Macdonald, the founder of the hotel chain, who was in the audience to hear Mr Farage speak.

In announcing his defection, which was billed as a “big surprise” by the party, Mr Offord apologised to UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and former Scottish secretary Alister Jack.

When asked by journalists if he would apologise to the Conservative Party as a whole, he said: “It’s not an easy thing to do.

“It’s a very personal decision for me and I just believe we need a new narrative here in Scotland and a new direction, and that is part of the reason why I’ve given up the peerage and I think it was right to do that.

“That [peerage] was given to me to be a minister and I was very proud to do that job, but I have to look forward to the future and Holyrood.

“I really believe Scotland wants an alternative to the SNP.”

There have now been two polls suggesting Reform UK will come second in next year’s Scottish Parliament election, ahead of Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives.

Several of the speakers brought up the claim that one in three schoolchildren in Glasgow speaks English as a second language.

Earlier in the week Mr Farage posted a video on social media where he said this shows immigrants are “culturally smashing” the city.

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Farage said: “When I saw that figure earlier this week that one in three school kids doesn’t speak English as a first language, you can see what the SNP are doing to the city of Glasgow.

“Frankly, who voted for this? Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow and other parts of Scotland to literally become unrecognisable from their Scottish backgrounds? The answer is simple - nobody.”

He then claims there had been three serious sexual assaults in the last week in Falkirk. The Scotsman contacted Police Scotland to confirm this claim and was told it was “inaccurate”.

A spokesperson said: “Around 3am on Sunday 30 November, we received a report of a woman being sexually assaulted in the Kerse Lane area of Falkirk.

“A 22-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with a sexual offence and he appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Monday 1 December.

“While carrying out enquiries, officers received information relating to a second sexual offence involving another woman, which occurred around 3.30am on Sunday 30 November at Bellsmeadow Road.

“The 22-year-old man was then further arrested and charged in connection with this and appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court on Tuesday 2 December.”

Mr Farage then said: “I’m sorry but this is a country allowing young men to come from countries in which women aren’t even classed as second class citizens, then you put them up in four star hotels and allow them to work illegally.

“Their attitude towards women is completely different to ours, so the social effects of this are appalling as well.”

When asked if he was comfortable with this attack on Scottish schoolchildren, Mr Offord said: “I don’t consider it an attack, I think he was highlighting a factual issue and it’s an issue that people are talking about on the doorstep.

“I don’t believe it is a dog whistle. I think it’s a fact and I think it’s something that needs to be resolved.”

During the rally the party also announced it is in the process of developing its own tartan, and will soon have hats, scarves and kilts for its members to wear. Chairman Dr David Bull said he will next address the Scottish members of the party in “full Highland regalia”.

Graham Simpson, currently Reform’s only MSP in Holyrood after his defection in the summer, also spoke to the conference and set out some of the party’s hopes if they win next year’s election.

He said the A9 and the A96 will be fully dualled within the next parliament if they are successful, with ambitions to also upgrade the A75 and the A1.

Mr Simpson, who was previously the Scottish Conservatives’ transport spokesman, also said they would introduce a 20-year ferry replacement programme, which would see around one new replacement ferry introduced to the fleet every single year.

Reform UK has also pledged to abolish land and buildings transaction tax, introduce regional housing authorities and merge a number of government departments over five years.

A protest against Reform UK was held outside the hotel while Mr Farage was speaking.

Green MSP Maggie Chapman was among those gathered. She said: “Reform represents the very worst of politics.

“Only this week we saw Farage announce record donations from the super rich while he targeted multilingual children and their families.

“Racist attacks on children must not become normalised in our politics.

“When Reform’s message spreads it means more pain and anxiety for migrant communities, people of colour and others who are targeted by prejudice and bigotry.”