Sarwar Caught in Private Deal Claim: Offord Insists Labour Leader Proposed Secret Anti-SNP Pact with Reform

15 April 2026

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is facing serious questions tonight after Malcolm Offord doubled down on explosive claims that Sarwar privately approached him to propose a backroom alliance between Labour and Reform UK — with the sole aim of destroying the SNP.

Sarwar has strongly denied the encounter ever took place. But Offord, speaking to journalists on Tuesday, was unequivocal: the Labour leader is lying.

The Claim

According to Offord, the exchange occurred after a television appearance in which the two men had publicly clashed. As cameras stopped rolling and aides drifted away, Sarwar allegedly approached Offord alone — "without his minders" — and struck a markedly different tone from the one millions of voters had just witnessed on screen.

"He came on his own without his minders, popped over just to say goodbye," Offord recounted. "He said, 'I always saw you as more of a unionist than a Tory, Malcolm.'"

Then, Offord claims, Sarwar went further — far further than anything he has ever said in public.

"He said, 'Look, you know you're gonna do well in the election, you're gonna win a lot of seats. At some point we need to get together and talk about how we work together — Reform and Labour — get rid of the SNP.' He turned on his heel and left, and off he went."

The Denial — and the Problem

Sarwar has categorically denied the conversation took place. But the specificity of Offord's account presents a significant problem for the Scottish Labour leader. This is not a vague, easily dismissed recollection. Offord recalls distinct phrases, the sequence of events, and even his own stunned reaction in the moment.

"I remember just turning back and saying — what, I mean, that's incredible," Offord said, describing his disbelief that a politician who had just "absolutely lambasted" him on national television could "bounce over as if nothing's happened" to propose a friendly, cross-party arrangement.

"This is politics," Offord reflected, "that you can meet [someone on TV] — absolutely lambasted — and then bounce over as if nothing's happened, friendly chat, working together."

A Question of Credibility

The allegation cuts to the heart of Sarwar's political brand. He has built his leadership of Scottish Labour on a platform of principled opposition to both the SNP and the Conservative right. The suggestion that he was privately courting a deal with Reform UK — a party he has publicly condemned — would represent a staggering contradiction.

A flat denial, in the face of such a detailed and specific account, is a high-stakes gamble. If Offord is telling the truth, Sarwar has been caught saying one thing to the cameras and something very different when he believed nobody was listening. It is the kind of two-faced politics that voters across the spectrum find most corrosive — and most unforgivable.

Offord, for his part, is not backing down. He has repeated the claim on the record, to journalists, and has directly accused Sarwar of lying. That is not the behaviour of a man who expects his story to unravel.

What Happens Next

Scottish Labour has so far offered nothing beyond a blanket denial. No explanation for why Offord might fabricate such a specific account. No alternative version of what was said after the cameras stopped rolling. Just: it didn't happen.

For Anas Sarwar, the question is simple but uncomfortable: if Malcolm Offord is making this up, why? And if he isn't — what else has the Scottish Labour leader been saying behind closed doors that the public hasn't heard?

The story is unlikely to end here.