Farage on Ukraine - and the Reactions from the Labour, Lib Dems and Tory Party Leaders

 

John Edwards, Southampton Test Candidate
for Reform
Photo: used with permission John Edwards

Alex Culley, Southampton Itchen Candidate for Reform UK
Photo: used with persmission Alex Culley

Nigel Farage, Leader of the Reform UK party, has made a career out of being unconventional. He regularly says that he doesn't care what people think of him. And he is outspoken.

Love him or hate him, like his great achievements or dislike them as terrible achievements, agree with his views or disagree, Farage is back. 

And he's using Eminem's "Without Me" to say "Guess who's back? Back again...". He is "out of retirement". And he is having a massive impact, whether you wish to acknowledge it or not.

So what does he think of the Ukraine war, or as the Russians like to call it - or have to call it at Vladimir Putin's insistence - the "special military operation"?

Farage was asked his views by the BBC's Nick Robinson in the General Election Leader interview. And of course, as is often the case, Mr Farage's views attracted interest, headlines and opprobrium. 

Farage has broken the Lab-Lib-Tory consensus and questioned foreign policy, saying of the Ukraine war:

"Of course it's [Putin's] fault, he's used what we've done as an excuse."

Robinson asked him:

"We've provoked the invasion of Ukraine?"

Farage replied:

"Yes, and very interestingly once again, ten years ago when I predicted this. By the way, I'm the only person in British politics that predicted what would happen.

And of course, everyone said I was a pariah for daring to suggest it.

George Robertson, former Labour cabinet member who went on to become the Secretary General of NATO, has in the last couple of weeks said the war is a direct result of EU expansionism."

Farage has indeed upset the consensus between the Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, the Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey and the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. 

They had been trying to avoid Nigel Farage, said Sky News' Darren McCaffrey who reported that Sunak said, echoing Neville Chamberlain's "peace in our time" claim regarding how he dealt with Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler:

"What he said was completely wrong and he plays into Putin's hands. This is a man who deployed nerve agents on the streets of Britain, who's doing deals with countries like North Korea. And this kind of appeasement is dangerous for Britain's security, the security of our allies that rely on us and only emboldens Putin further."

Keir Starmer, rather simplistically, said:

"Farage's comments about Russia and Ukraine are disgraceful. I've always been clear that Putin bears responsibility, sole responsibility for the Russian aggression in Ukraine. And we have always supported Ukraine and behind Ukraine and so far we've done it united across Parliament".

Ed Davey, rather snootily, said:

"I don't share any values with Nigel Farage. This is another example, but my message to the British people is that we need to support the Ukraine people. This is a time of deep insecurity in our world."

So what does Southampton Independents think? Opinion pieces may be forthcoming after the Election.

You can make up your own minds based on what we present, with balance across political parties, here and in our coverage of the Election. There will be more to come on this during the General Election campaign and afterwards. And you can decide whether to support the Reform candidates in Southampton, or not.

Our coverage of the 2024 General Election, and local candidates, starts on this page here.

 

Farage on Ukraine: Defiant Southampton Reform Candidate Defends Farage on "Tyrant" Putin

 

Alex Culley, Reform UK Candidate
for Southampton Test at 2024 General Election
Photo: used with permission Alex Culley

In defending Nigel Farage's comments on the Ukraine-Russia war in the BBC's Nick Robinson Leader interview, which we have summarised in another article, Southampton Itchen Reform candidate Alex Culley told us:

"the political establishment, and some in the media, are desperately casting around for stories to discredit Reform UK. This is simply because we are gaining serious support on the doorstep."

Attacking Reform's opponents, and branding Putin a tyrant, Mr Culley added:

"some of our opponents advocate, or have supported politicians or policies in the past which have advocated, for the serious weakening of our nation's defences by scrapping our nuclear deterrent (something which makes Putin think twice before attacking us). By contrast, we have pledged to increase defence spending to 3% of our GDP within 6 years to put tyrants like Putin on notice that the UK will not be bullied."

and cites Boris Johnson, George Robertson and Tony Blair as having similar views to Farage at various times about Ukraine or Putin.

• "(former Tory Prime Minister) Boris Johnson was quoted as saying that "EU foreign policy is to blame for inflaming tensions in Ukraine, rather than keeping peace" in 2016 (The i newspaper front page, as used in a prop by Nigel Farage on top of his campaign bus recently). Johnson at the time was accused of being a "Putin apologist";
• former Labour MP and NATO Secretary General George Robertson was recently quoted as saying: "He’s [Putin] bothered by the European Union. The whole Ukraine crisis started with the offer of an [EU] accession agreement to Ukraine [in 2014]"; and
• Tony Blair allegedly advocated for Putin to be given a seat on the "top table"."

 

Mr Culley also told us:

•     "Nigel has made it clear that Putin's invasion of Ukraine was immoral, outrageous and indefensible;
•     Nigel is not, and has never been, an apologist for Putin;
•     Reform UK supports Ukraine's resistance and the provision of aid by the USA and European nations;
•     Nigel's comments have been taken out of context and distorted by many in the press and the established parties;
•     in his speech, Nigel merely predicted what the consequences of the eastward expansion of NATO and the EU could be as, regardless of what we think, Russia was never likely to view this as being benign;
•     to conduct effective foreign policy, ignoring such geopolitical realities is both naive and dangerous;
•     Nigel has long advocated for British foreign policy to be conducted in the nation's interests, and is on record as having been against the interventions in Iraq and Libya which have had disastrous consequences for both the Middle East and Europe; and
•     Reform UK wants to see an end to this war as soon as possible. It has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives, spiked energy prices and inflation in the UK. This [has] contributed to the cost of living crisis. It is one of the main reasons Reform UK is advocating for strengthening our energy independence."

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice. 

The other candidates standing in Southampton Itchen are listed here.  

Tell us what you think by getting in touch.