HE IS NOT even elected yet, but already Malcolm Offord and his legion of Reformers have started to change Scottish politics for the better.
The nature of the debate has altered so that it better reflects the real concerns of the Scottish people. At long last the far too comfortable and complacent Holyrood politicians are having to face up to the issues they refuse to deal with. there’s still a long way to go, but Malcolm Offord has made a start and offers much promise for dragging reality into the debating chamber, no doubt against considerable resistance.
The fact that Scotland’s public finances are facing an existential risk of a growing black hole (£5bn by financial year 29/30 says the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Auditor General) due to the spend, spend, spend policies of both the Scottish Government and opposition parties is at last being confronted, although most of Offord’s opponents remain in denial.
Scotland needs economic growth and it is Malcolm Offord’s bold proposals to reduce the tax bands from six back to three and cut the tax rate that have forced the debate in his direction. Even the SNP – which promised to cut taxes in 2021 but instead increased them twice – is now saying it would like to cut taxes! Nobody believes them, of course.
The cult-like adoration of Holyrood towards Net Zero carbon emission policies is also shifting. Thanks to Offord’s approach of “drill, baby drill” to help create jobs, lower costs and achieve economic growth, the need to fully exploit the oil and gas off our shores is gaining a wider acceptance than the established parties would have wished.
While at last, immigration, its impact on public services and the changes it can bring about to our way of life are also being discussed more honestly than just a year ago.
Even the television debates have become watchable if only to see what Malcolm Offord might say next to upset his opponents by exposing their two-faced hypocrisies. Firstly he called-out Anas Sarwar for privately wanting to work together against the SNP while simultaneously calling Malcolm Offord a racist repeatedly in public. Then last week he laid an elephant trap of a question for the green-eyed manchild that is Ross Greer, which he naïvely jumped into by saying he would want fewer big taxpayers in Scotland.
Having previously said he wanted a tax for the super-rich to raise funds for give aways such as full free bus travel, Greer revealed his ignorance that you cannot tax people if they have left the country.
The post-debate reaction has been very interesting as the focus on the need for entrepreneurs would never have graced the agendas of political commentators, social media trolls or riot politicians declaring how little they owned. It was pleasing to see a variety of successful business names – some of whom I know have supported the SNP in the past – come out and support Malcolm Offord’s candour. Again, I see this as a theme that will develop momentum going forward.
That will open doors for Reform UK and give them opportunities to raise the sort of money they have probably not had available for this particular election. It is also likely to pull in more business-type candidates, people with real success stories compared to what passes for MSPs currently.
Put all what’s been happening together and it is undeniable that without Malcolm Offord and Reform this year’s Holyrood election would have been an insufferably dull and boring affair.
And Malcolm Offord is only just starting. Like most of his fellow candidates, he’s relatively new to the elections malarky but he’s learning quickly on the job and is now the performer we most want to see and hear. He’s not backward at coming forward to say what he honestly thinks – and how refreshing is that!? Nor is he afraid to turn the thumbscrew on his opponents – politely and courteously – such as asking Liberal Democrat leader, Alex Cole Hamilton, if he would repeat his voting in favour of the Gender Recognition Reform so that convicted biological male rapists could end up in women’s prisons where they are able to sexually assault again.
Well, I for one, cannot wait to see what happens when Malcolm Offord gets into Holyrood and is able to challenge the superannuated egos, the double standards, and all the virtue signalling of the far too cozy and complacent establishment MSPs who all too often ignore the genuine concerns of real people facing real-life challenges.
While Malcolm Offord sails the seven seas, Swinney, Sarwar, Greer and the rest are like drowning men clutching at straws. After this election they could, politically speaking, all end up sleeping with the fishes.
Established in 2006 and celebrating twenty years, ThinkScotland is not for profit relying on donations to publish our wide range of opinions. You can subscribe to our FREE newsletter here – share and follow us on ‘X’ here – like and comment on facebook here and make a donation here. Every contribution helps to meet our overheads.
