SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has branded Reform claims he sought a deal with them “a desperate lie.”

The claim was made by Nigel Farage’s appointee leader to Reform in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, during the course of the latest Holyrood leaders’ debate hosted by Channel 4.

Mr Offord had come under fire for his party’s latest billboard campaign, which depicts people seeking asylum alongside the slogan “Scotland is at breaking point.”

SNP leader John Swinney said the posters had “incited tension and division.”

Mr Sarwar, who had previously been targeted by Reform ads which claimed he would “prioritise the Pakistani community,” said: “It’s pretty insidious of John Swinney, who will rightly call out frankly the racism of Reform – and then try to pretend the person they target with tens of thousands of pounds of ads is somehow the person to do a secret deal with them.

“Let’s look at what Reform have done. Thousands of pounds of adverts questioning my loyalty to my country.”

Turning to Mr Offord, he said: “He says they’re not a racist party, Farage yesterday says they’re not a racist party.

“One of his candidates wants to deport my children. Where do you want them to go, Malcolm?”

Mr Offord hit back: “This is the third time on national TV you’ve called me a racist.

“This does not square with you coming up to me at the start of this campaign, bouncing up to me in Paisley Town Hall saying we need to work together, Reform and Labour, to remove the SNP.”

As Mr Swinney sought to intervene, the Scottish Labour leader dismissed the claim as “utter nonsense” and after the debate, said: “It is a desperate lie from a desperate man.

“It is desperation from a party whose campaign has completely flunked.”

Turning his fire on Mr Swinney as SNP social media clipped the exchange under the title “Busted,” he added: “Our politics should be better than that, and frankly I thought John Swinney was better than that.

“I understand why he may think it is politically useful, but morally he should take a long, hard look at himself.

“Let me be unequivocal: no stitch-ups, no deals, no backroom chats, no back-channel contact with Reform. I only want one deal, and that is with the people of Scotland.”