Labour condemns Nigel Farage after he ducks calls for probe into potential Reform UK links to Russia – UK politics live | Politics
Labor condemns Nigel Farage for turning down calls for an investigation into Reform UK’s possible links to Russia
Good morning. Yesterday Nigel FarageThe Reform UK leader eventually addressed the report published by the Guardian a week ago, which quoted several people recalling him making racist or anti-Semitic comments as a student at Dulwich College in south London in the late 1970s and 1980s. Before publication, a spokesperson for Reform UK told the Guardian the allegations were “completely unfounded”. But Farage took a slightly different line when questioned by BBC Wales political editor Gareth Lewis, who was conducting a mass interview (i.e. one available to all media outlets). Farage was still pretty dismissive, but when asked if he had racially abused other students at school, he replied: “Not on purpose.”
There is a clip of the interview Herebut this morning the Today show played a more comprehensive version (available) Here, from 7.16am) is worth hearing. Lewis’ questioning was excellent.
Here is our story, Daniel Boffey, Henry Dyer And Cue Blacklock.
Here’s a timeline showing how Farage’s response to these allegations has changed over time.
But racism wasn’t the only difficult issue Farage had to face questions about yesterday. On Friday, former Reform UK leader in Wales Nathan Gill was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for accepting bribes to make pro-Russia speeches while he was an MP, and Farage was also asked what he had done to establish whether other Brexit party MPs had been offered bribes in the same way. (Gill was an MP for the Brexit party when he took the bribe, but the Brexit party later morphed into Reform UK.) Farage insists Gill was a one-off “bad apple”. When asked why he did not conduct an investigation to determine whether anyone else from the party was also targeted in the same way, he said: faraj replied:
I don’t have a police force, I don’t have access… I can’t access your phone message, I can’t access your emails… Unless I can do that, I can’t investigate. There needs to be someone with investigative powers.
When asked if he had asked people in his party about this issue, he replied:
I asked everyone: have you ever taken money from anyone you shouldn’t have… and no one said yes.
When asked if that was good enough, Farage deflected the question and asked what Labor and the Conservative Party were doing about the people in their own parties.
Labor says this is not good enough. In a statement issued in response to the Farage interview, Anna TurleyThe Labor Party leader said:
Nigel Farage has reassured the public that his former right-hand man is decent and honest before it was revealed he had accepted pro-Russian bribes. Now Reform says it is as confident as it can be that there are no pro-Kremlin links in UK.
He was wrong before and the public can no longer trust his judgment.
Farage must urgently take responsibility for ensuring his party does not become a tool for Putin’s Russia, and Reform must stop refusing to investigate pro-Russian links in the UK.
Works at Daily Mirror this storywith a striking tabloid headline.
Here is the agenda of the day.
10am: Universities minister Jacqui Smith is presenting evidence on university funding to the House of Commons education committee.
11.30: Health secretary Wes Streeting answers questions in the House of Commons.
Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.
After 12.30: Keir Starmer will make a statement to MPs about the G20 summit.
Afternoon: Starmer is taking part in a video call with leaders of the “Coalition of Volunteers” countries – countries willing to contribute to Ukraine’s defense in the event of a peace agreement. They will discuss the latest peace proposals from the United States.
If you would like to contact me, please message below the line during comments open hours (normally between 10am and 3pm currently) or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
important events
James Cleverly refuses to fully support Tory leader’s Nazi mockery on Reformation UK
It’s not just Labor attacking Reform UK. Sunday Kevin HollinrakeThe Conservative party leader posted a message on social media comparing the Reform UK badge to a Nazi swastika. In response to complaints, he removed this post but replaced it with another (still live) this morning) contains a link to a Wikipedia page about the Nazi badge, implying that the comparison has some merit. This did not assuage the criticism and yesterday Kemi BadenochThe Tory leader defended Hollinrake by saying: just being funny.
But this morning James WiselyThe shadow housing secretary refused to fully defend Hollinrake. He said the Conservative Party chairman was “trying to make a point” but “not necessarily in the way I would do it”.
Great Britain News was wisely told:
The point I think he makes is this; namely the case of former Reform leader in Wales Nathan Gill, currently imprisoned on corruption charges and bribed by Russia to promote pro-Moscow propaganda, is something worth highlighting.
Kevin tried to do it his way. That’s a decision he made, but I think it’s correct, we’re not criticizing the people who voted for Reform – these are the people we need to win over, and in fact we need to win back most of the time by voting Conservative – but I think it’s absolutely legitimate to ask very, very serious questions about the motivation of some elected people within Reform.
Labor condemns Nigel Farage for turning down calls for an investigation into Reform UK’s possible links to Russia
Good morning. Yesterday Nigel FarageThe Reform UK leader eventually addressed the report published by the Guardian a week ago, which quoted several people recalling him making racist or anti-Semitic comments as a student at Dulwich College in south London in the late 1970s and 1980s. Before publication, a spokesperson for Reform UK told the Guardian the allegations were “completely unfounded”. But Farage took a slightly different line when questioned by BBC Wales political editor Gareth Lewis, who was conducting a mass interview (i.e. one available to all media outlets). Farage was still pretty dismissive, but when asked if he had racially abused other students at school, he replied: “Not on purpose.”
There is a clip of the interview Herebut this morning the Today show played a more comprehensive version (available) Here, from 7.16am) is worth hearing. Lewis’ questioning was excellent.
Here is our story, Daniel Boffey, Henry Dyer And Cue Blacklock.
Here’s a timeline showing how Farage’s response to these allegations has changed over time.
But racism wasn’t the only difficult issue Farage had to face questions about yesterday. On Friday, former Reform UK leader in Wales Nathan Gill was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for accepting bribes to make pro-Russia speeches while he was an MP, and Farage was also asked what he had done to establish whether other Brexit party MPs had been offered bribes in the same way. (Gill was an MP for the Brexit party when he took the bribe, but the Brexit party later morphed into Reform UK.) Farage insists Gill was a one-off “bad apple”. When asked why he did not conduct an investigation to determine whether anyone else from the party was also targeted in the same way, he said: faraj replied:
I don’t have a police force, I don’t have access… I can’t access your phone message, I can’t access your emails… Unless I can do that, I can’t investigate. There needs to be someone with investigative powers.
When asked if he had asked people in his party about this issue, he replied:
I asked everyone: have you ever taken money from anyone you shouldn’t have… and no one said yes.
When asked if that was good enough, Farage deflected the question and asked what Labor and the Conservative Party were doing about the people in their own parties.
Labor says this is not good enough. In a statement issued in response to the Farage interview, Anna TurleyThe Labor Party leader said:
Nigel Farage has reassured the public that his former right-hand man is decent and honest before it was revealed he had accepted pro-Russian bribes. Now Reform says it is as confident as it can be that there are no pro-Kremlin links in UK.
He was wrong before and the public can no longer trust his judgment.
Farage must urgently take responsibility for ensuring his party does not become a tool for Putin’s Russia, and Reform must stop refusing to investigate pro-Russian links in the UK.
Works at Daily Mirror this storywith a striking tabloid headline.
Here is the agenda of the day.
10am: Universities minister Jacqui Smith is presenting evidence on university funding to the House of Commons education committee.
11.30: Health secretary Wes Streeting answers questions in the House of Commons.
Afternoon: A lobby briefing is being held in Downing Street.
After 12.30: Keir Starmer will make a statement to MPs about the G20 summit.
Afternoon: Starmer is taking part in a video call with leaders of the “Coalition of Volunteers” countries – countries willing to contribute to Ukraine’s defense in the event of a peace agreement. They will discuss the latest peace proposals from the United States.
If you would like to contact me, please message below the line during comments open hours (normally between 10am and 3pm currently) or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you type “Andrew” in a message addressed to me, I’m more likely to see it because I’m looking for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has stopped posting from their official account on
I find it very helpful for readers to point out errors, even minor typos. No mistake is too small to be corrected. I also find your questions very interesting. I can’t promise to respond to them all, but I will try to respond as much as I can, either on BTL or sometimes on the blog.
