Reform MSP backs Scottish leader as Swinney condemns crude joke

Reform UK's sole MSP has said Malcolm Offord is fit to lead the party after he was accused of making a homophobic joke at a Burns Night dinner.

Offord apologised for the "crude" remark - made at a rugby club dinner in 2018 - but denied he was homophobic after it was reported this week by the Daily Record.

Graham Simpson, who defected from the Scottish Conservatives to Reform UK, backed his party leader, saying he had not seen the joke, adding: "I don't want to see it."

First Minister John Swinney, meanwhile, said Offord was "unfit" to be involved in Scottish politics.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Offord said he had made the "crude joke" after having had "a bit to drink" at the London Scottish rugby club while he was serving as chairman.

He said the remarks were about the late singer George Michael, who died on Christmas Day in 2016, "as I had been connecting his songs to Burns's works".

The joke referenced putting the singer's cremated remains into a curry, going on to make a crude reference to sex acts.

The Reform chief insisted the joke was intended to be "funny through being edgy and shocking", but said he had made attendees uncomfortable and had "instantly regretted it".

Offord added that he apologised at the time and made a donation to an LGBT rugby club.

Asked about Offord in the Scottish Parliament, Swinney told journalists: "He's unfit to be leader of any political party, unfit to be a member of the Scottish Parliament with views and attitudes like that."

He said that if the Reform leader said the same remark at a Reform UK event he suspected "lots of people would laugh and applaud, based on what I saw of the launch last week".

The first minister added: "So I think we've got to be really careful as a country about where we are heading, and Reform have got no part to play in it if they represent views of intolerance, prejudice and hatred of that type."

Ian Lewer, who was at the 2018 rugby club dinner with his wife, said the joke was "crude, bad taste and insulting".

He told the Daily Record: "I don't know who in their right mind would say something like that.

"It is utterly bizarre that anyone would get up and make a speech in a room with 200 people and say something like that.

"It was so shocking I've not forgotten it."

Offord was inducted into London Scottish rugby club's hall of fame in May 2023.

Scotland's Constitution Secretary, Angus Robertson, has accused Offord of homophobia and said he was not fit for public office.

Labour's Paul O'Kane described Reform as the "nasty party", while LibDem MSP Jamie Greene accused the party of spreading "bile".

Last week, Offord defended previous comments made by some of his party's candidates hours after they were unveiled - including remarks about asylum seekers and an insult about former First Minister Humza Yousaf.