Nicola Sturgeon Critiques Nigel Farage at Wigtown Book Festival

Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has sharply criticized Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, calling him a “snake oil salesman” during her appearance at the Wigtown Book Festival on September 25, 2023. Sturgeon was promoting her new memoir, *Frankly*, when she discussed the growing appeal of Farage’s party amid widespread voter disillusionment with traditional political options.

Sturgeon highlighted that the rise of Reform UK is a direct response to a sense of alienation many voters feel towards established parties. “Those problems are not imagined. They’re real,” she stated. She emphasized that the temptation to support Farage does not reflect poorly on voters. Yet, she firmly condemned Farage’s narrative, asserting, “Farage is selling snake oil, and he’s looking for scapegoats.”

The former minister pointed out that Farage’s claims attributing the UK’s issues to immigration are unfounded. “Most migrants who come to the UK come to work or to study,” she noted. Sturgeon attributed the increase in irregular immigration to the repercussions of Brexit. “The problems the UK is suffering right now largely stem from the financial crisis exacerbated by Brexit. Who was the chief proponent of Brexit? Yes, I am talking about you, Mr. Farage,” she added.

Sturgeon urged left-leaning politicians to address these pressing issues with viable solutions. “For goodness’ sake, can politicians of the left and progressive politicians find a backbone and come up with better solutions to the problems people are experiencing?” she implored, calling for a more assertive response to Farage’s rhetoric.

She also addressed Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the UK Labour Party, expressing concern that he legitimizes Farage’s narrative. “If I’ve got a real gripe with Keir Starmer right now, it is that instead of offering better alternatives, he seems to legitimise Farage by effectively saying: ‘Yeah, yeah, immigration is the problem,’” she remarked.

In a lighter moment, Sturgeon shared her plans to venture into fiction writing, revealing that she is in the early stages of crafting a murder mystery novel. Inspired by discussions with Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, she described the project as a “counterfactual political thriller.” Sturgeon humorously reflected on her lengthy political career, noting, “I did think when I first started that the problem I might have is there are probably too many people I want to kill. So, you might have a murder literally on every page.”

Both Reform UK and Scottish Labour have been approached for comments regarding Sturgeon’s remarks.