MALCOLM Offord has been roundly mocked after he doubled down on attacks over charity donations being made by the Scottish Government to mental health charities.
The Reform Scotland leader criticised the First Minister for donating £400,000 to a Scottish football fan who walked 3000 miles across the United States to raise money for a men’s mental health charity.
Craig Ferguson set off from Los Angeles in February and was greeted by scores of cheering Tartan Army fans in Boston at 2pm on Friday ahead of the men’s teams first World Cup appearance since 1998.
Paisley-born Ferguson raised £1 million for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) as a result of the walk.
But former Tory peer Offord challenged the First Minister and said the cash should have come from his own pocket, adding that if he took it back he would match the amount himself.
John Swinney branded the comments "pathetic".
Offord’s own charity – the Badenoch Trust – was recently found to have broken the law in Scotland and must register with regulators north of the Border.
Speaking to our reporter in Boston on Friday, the First Minister said Offord’s comments were “mean spirited”.
“I made it clear during the election campaign if the SNP Government was re-elected we’d be providing Government support to SAMH to take forward the Nook project, that’s exactly what we’ve just done,” Swinney said.
“So I don’t think anyone should be that surprised about it.
“And also I just think it's a bit…you’ve got a young man Craig Ferguson doing this intrepid adventure and his government gets right behind him and what on earth are we doing taking exception to that?
“It’s pretty pathetic.”
On Sunday, Offord – who is also understood to be in the US for Scotland’s World Cup matches – accused Swinney of “throwing public money around as if it’s his own”.
It came after the First Minister announced £275,000 would be donated to Street Soccer Scotland for the charity to expand its free football and wellbeing sessions. The programme is set to focus on smaller towns and rural areas, where it is “needed most”.
The donation was part of funding to “inspire a generation of sporting talent”, alongside a £500,000 World Cup fund in partnership with the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
However, the former Tory peer took exception to this.
“Again throwing public money around like it’s his own – the income tax bill of 62 nurses all in one go,” Offord said on X/Twitter.
“It's a great charity and I was also there to support it.
“But if he wants a photo opportunity John Swinney should donate out of his own pocket like the rest of us.”
Again throwing public money around like it’s his own – the income tax bill of 62 nurses all in one go. It's a great charity and I was also there to support it. But if he wants a photo opportunity John Swinney should donate out of his own pocket like the rest of us. https://t.co/22cDq23fiR
— Malcolm Offord MSP (@Malcolm_Offord) June 14, 2026
Social media users were quick to mock Offord for his comments.
“The average Scot does not have £275,000 in their pockets, you elitist multi-yacht imbecile,” one wrote.
Another added: “So you've moved in on Scot Gov charitable donations amid a fantastic celebration of Scotland on the international stage while your lil Tom Kerr 'man of the peeple' act has dropped out of sight since your wee band of fascists were completely overwhelmed in Glasgow by real people.”
“You didn’t seem to care about public money when you were a Tory,” one said simply.
Another joked: “Terrible decision by John, I mean giving money to a worthy cause instead of giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, what was he thinking?”
One social media user raised the £5 million given to Nigel Farage by a crypto-billionaire, writing: “Take a day off Malcolm; the FM has had a very successful few days flying the flag for Scotland.
“Why don’t you match the donation? Surely a drop in the ocean for someone with many boats and houses. Or perhaps your boss could dip into the £5m he was recently gifted?”
