PA MediaThe leader of Reform UK in Scotland said honesty was a "key character for any politician"Reform UK's Scottish leader says he is "absolutely fit to be first minister" as he defended controversial comments he made at a rugby club dinner eight years ago.
Speaking to the BBC at a campaign event in Peterhead, Malcolm Offord said: "It's for other people to judge my character, my integrity, and that's why I'm putting myself forward."
He added that he had not hidden "a single thing" about making the joke, and that honesty was a "key character for any politician".
During an earlier interview with Radio Scotland Breakfast, Lord Offord said the joke he made about George Michael was "probably" homophobic – but the "fake outrage" over it by the media had been "astounding".
"I would have been mistaken for thinking I'd done some serious misconduct or some criminal offence - instead I told a bad joke for which I've apologised," he added.
He said he regretted making the "off the cuff" remark at a Burns Supper at Kings Cross Steelers in 2018, but said he had apologised and made a donation of £2,000 to an LGBT rugby club.
'It was a mistake'
Lord Offord claimed there had been "no malice" in the remarks, and he had received a "huge amount of public support from people".
"This happened eight years ago, it was not meant to cause any offence but it did cause offence, and I rectified that offence. All the people involved were satisfied with that."
Asked if his joke was homophobic, he said it "probably was", adding: "It was a mistake."
Getty ImagesNigel Farage said there was context to Malcolm Offord's joke and he had "probably regretted doing it" He said: "I don't have any issue with homophobia, I've got a lot of gay friends."
Lord Offord also stressed the comments were made before he became a politician.
"It was an error of judgement, sometimes one does that, particularly when you are a private individual," he added.
"Obviously when you are in public office it is a higher standard and we are all learning on the way."
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He referenced behaviour by other politicians, including former SNP council leader Jordan Linden, who was this week found guilty of five sexual assaults against young men, and former Health Secretary Michael Matheson, who stepped down after breaching expenses policies.
"You might have thought based on what we have heard in the last week I was guilty of something serious, like for example sexual assaults against five young men, or maybe I had tried to defraud the taxpayer for £11,000 for my iPad bill," he said.
He added: "Can we just get real on this?"
Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage defended Lord Offord's comments on Thursday.
He said: "If we're going to drum people out of public life for telling a joke at a boozy rugby club dinner that's amongst friends, we'll finish up with the dullest group of individuals, looking a bit like, sounding a bit like Keir Starmer."
Candidates withdraw
A number of Reform candidates have stood down or have been suspended recently.
On Thursday, the party's candidate for Fife North East Linda Holt said she was withdrawing her candidacy "due to a lack of support from the party" after calling former First Minister Humza Yousaf a "grandstanding Islamist moron".
On Friday, James Glen, who was set to stand in Edinburgh North Western, stood down, saying he fully supported Holt's decision to step down and her "reasons behind it".
Last week Stuart Niven, the Dundee City West candidate, was suspended after The Herald newspaper reported he had been banned from acting as a company director for seven years after diverting thousands of pounds from a taxpayer-backed Covid loan into his personal account.
The party's Aberdeen Central candidate Jordan Brown and Mid Fife and Glenrothes hopeful Roland Jackson have also both withdrawn.
Asked about the number of candidates withdrawing, Lord Offord said: "I would say we've done an extraordinary thing in a short space of time.
"To interview over 300 candidates to get 73 wanting to stand and it's not easy to stand as an MSP and a lot of people find that out."
He described the media scrutiny as "intense", adding that it was not "for everybody so some people have pulled out".
He added that the party has back-up candidates and that it would be "providing a full slate".
