THE OBSERVER: Conservatives are desperate to halt the rise of Reform UK, which is splitting their party in two
Rishi Sunak and a string of senior Conservatives have condemned Nigel Farage for claiming the west provoked the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid a growing internal Tory battle over how to deal with the Reform UK leader.
The prime minister accused Farage of playing “into Putin’s hands” after he made the claim in a BBC Panorama interview on Friday, in which he linked Nato and EU expansion to the conflict in eastern Europe. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister went further, telling the Observer: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re Jeremy Corbyn or Nigel Farage – if you parrot the Kremlin’s lies, you cannot be trusted with our national security.”
Home secretary James Cleverly also criticised the comments, adding that Farage wanted to “destroy our party”. Ben Wallace, a former defence secretary, described Farage as a “pub bore”. Labour leader Keir Starmer also condemned Farage’s comments as “disgraceful”. » | Michael Savage, Policy Editor | Sunday, June 23, 2024
