Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe has hit back at Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord, accusing him of misrepresenting comments made during a wide-ranging BBC interview about the challenges facing the area.
The Labour council leader responded after Offord claimed on X that McCabe believed “the answer to deprivation is more immigration”, arguing instead that Inverclyde needed greater enterprise and more job opportunities.
McCabe rejected that characterisation, saying:
“I never said what you say I said. The BBC produced a headline that totally misrepresented what I said during an hour long interview when I talked about all the issues facing Inverclyde.”
He also challenged Offord over his engagement with the area, adding: “Since you were elected in May you have not contacted me to offer any support for Inverclyde.”
The dispute follows recent BBC coverage examining Inverclyde’s attempts to reverse decades of population decline. McCabe told the BBC that repopulation forms part of a much wider strategy encompassing housing, schools, employment and investment, while arguing that migrants and refugees able to work have made a positive contribution to the area.
Official council figures show Inverclyde’s estimated population stood at 78,550 in mid-2025, falling by 190 over the year. There were 1,092 deaths compared with 571 births, while net migration of 310 partly offset the natural population decline.
McCabe has also been pressing governments for greater economic support after the loss of around 1,500 jobs in Inverclyde in recent years. Earlier this month, he invited First Minister John Swinney to the area and called for targeted assistance to attract investment and create employment.
He has described Inverclyde as facing a particular challenge because the impact of repeated smaller-scale job losses is magnified in an area of around 78,000 people.
The exchange comes after Offord, who previously served as a Conservative Scotland Office minister before joining Reform UK, contested Inverclyde for Reform at May’s Scottish Parliament election.
Reform finished a distant third in the constituency, a point also highlighted by Labour MP Martin McCluskey as he joined the criticism of Offord’s intervention.
The row underlines Labour’s argument that Inverclyde’s challenges cannot be reduced to a single issue, with local Labour representatives instead calling for a combination of job creation, investment, stronger public services and measures to reverse long-term population decline.
