The word “racist” has become “dangerously damaged” and is being used “too loosely”, Lord Malcolm Offord has said.
The Reform UK Scotland leader also said the term was now “too accusatory”.
He said those being called racist were not, and that they were simply demanding fairness.
The party has been accused of racism by its opponents, including over an attack ad against Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in which it claimed he would prioritise the Pakistani community in Scotland.
Speaking to the wrestler Grado, who has interviewed all the major party leaders for LBC, Lord Offord was asked whether he came across people who thought anyone who backed Reform was racist.
“No,” he told the actor, “because that word has become dangerously damaged. It’s used too loosely now, and it’s too accusatory.
“People say: ‘Hang on a minute, we’re not racist. We actually just want life to be fair. We want a system that’s fair to everybody.’
“A system that’s not fair, especially for local people, shouldn’t be happening. Don’t call somebody racist for saying it’s not fair.”
The former Tory peer said “a lot of” the accusations of racism were down to the debate over migration.
The businessman said queuing was the most “fundamental Scottish characteristic”, adding: “When you want to get into the theatre, we queue up. If there’s a soup kitchen, you queue up.
“It’s fundamentally Scottish that you queue up because that makes it fair, to make sure everyone gets in line and we look after people who are vulnerable, and we make sure everyone’s looked after.
“What do we hate the most? People who barge to the front of the queue.
“If people come to our country who have never been here before, they get put to the front of the queue. It’s not fair, is it?”
Lord Offord pointed to the end of the local connection rule in Scotland for those accessing social housing. He said that meant people were arriving in Glasgow, the UK’s biggest migrant dispersal city by population, and going “to the front of the queue”.
“Local people are saying that’s not fair,” he said. “You can call that racist if you want – but that’s not fair.”
The politician, who became the party’s Scottish leader in December, said it took him a year of thinking before defecting from the Tories. He said the defection of MP Danny Kruger, who defected in September that year, played a key role in his decision.
The Reform UK Scotland leader said the media aspect of the job was a “rude awakening”, and that he had to “learn fast” as he admitted to making mistakes.
Since launching its campaign, the party has seen eight of its candidates stand down.
It follows revelations that some had backed Tommy Robinson, called for Muslims to be deported, and said that former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf was not British and was an “Islamist”.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent economic think tank, also branded the party’s tax cut proposals a “mirage” after it claimed they would effectively pay for themselves.
Polling generally shows the party in second place behind the SNP, which would make Lord Offord the effective leader of the opposition at Holyrood.
The Lib Dem candidate for Inverclyde, Jamie Greene, said: “Lord Offord’s denials of racism in the Reform ranks might wash if he’d gotten rid of candidates who’ve publicly backed the likes of Tommy Robinson and Britain First. Instead, they’re still on the ballot in Scotland under his party’s banner.
“It’s clear that Scotland is offering far too many people an unfair deal but Reform’s bigoted politics offer us change for the worse, not for the better.
“If Lord Offord doesn’t want people calling Reform racist, he could stop whining and kick his openly racist colleagues out. That he’s chosen not to do so says it all.”
