Holyrood leaders 'childish' for excluding Reform, MSP says

Reform UK Scotland has accused Holyrood's other parties of "childish" tactics after they ruled out working with Malcolm Offord's group in the new parliament.

The SNP, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens and Labour have said they will not seek to co-operate with Reform after the party made its electoral breakthrough in Scotland last week.

SNP leader John Swinney has asked the leaders of each of those parties to talks as he seeks to form a new government, but said he would not invite Reform Scotland leader Offord.

Helen McDade, one of Reform's 17 new MSPs, called for other parties to stop "posturing".

The SNP won a fifth successive Scottish election, returning 58 MSPs. Reform and Labour tied for second with 17 MSPs each, followed by the Greens on 15, the Conservatives on 12 and the Liberal Democrats on 10.

McDade, elected to represent Mid Scotland and Fife, said the result showed that voters wanted parties to work together, and that Reform was "open to that".

"Obviously, many of our aims may not align but many of our aims should be aligning – making Scotland better, getting our economy back on track, balancing private sector enterprise with the public sector," she told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast.

"We live in a democracy and people have voted," McDade said, arguing that it would "play very badly" for other parties if they refused to work with Reform.

"This is childish," she said, urging party leaders to stop "posturing".

McDade also claimed that other parties had said "dreadful things" about Reform politicians, potentially increasing the risk to them when in public.

While Holyrood parties rarely have formal co-operation agreements, they are expected to work together in committees and in the chamber to scrutinise, amend and pass legislation.

It is yet to be seen to what extent other parties will refuse to co-operate with Reform, which will have a prominent role in committees and at set-piece events such as First Minister's Questions.

Mairi McAllan, a former SNP cabinet minister who is widely tipped to become the next deputy first minister, said Swinney had been clear during the campaign that the SNP "will have absolutely nothing to do with the politics of Reform".

She accused Reform of peddling "hatred and division" and said the party's rhetoric had put ethnic minorities at risk.

McAllan added: "We understand that while we will not work with Reform politicians, some people who voted for Reform have done so out of anger and out of fear ... we will speak directly to them so they don't have to be angry and they don't have to be afraid and we will work to improve their lives."

McAllan said it was important for Scotland's first minister to engage with world leaders on important socio-economic issues.

Following a record number of departures from Holyrood at this year's election, 64 new MSPs are being shown the ropes in the parliament on Monday.

They will be officially sworn in on Thursday, with the selection of a first minister and a cabinet next week.