Putin wants Farage to win to divide Europe, says Lammy
Vladimir Putin wants Nigel Farage and his “right-wing populist” allies to succeed in the hope of dividing Europe, David Lammy has claimed.
His attack came after one of Mr Farage’s leading allies – the former UK Reform leader in Wales Nathan Gill – was found guilty of taking money from the Kremlin.
It is also the result of long-standing concerns about Mr Farage’s “admiration” for the Russian autocrat, despite the Reform UK leader recently describing Putin as a “very bad man” in response to criticism.
The deputy prime minister made a major speech in Amsterdam on Saturday, claiming Labor and its centre-left allies had “won” in stopping right-wing populism around the world.
Despite this one thing Learn Now According to the poll, the Labor Party is in third place with 15 percent; This puts it less than half behind Reform UK on 32 per cent and the Conservative Party on 17 per cent.
But the speech reflects Keir Starmer’s new offensive strategy against Mr Farage, whose party he described as “racist” and “immoral” at the Labor Party conference last month.
Speaking at a conference of European socialists, Mr Lammy noted Mr Gill’s recent conviction.
He said: “Nigel Farage says he is stunned that the former Wales party leader is taking bribes from Russia. But we are not surprised.
“Because the Kremlin has a proven track record of supporting networks that want European unity to fail.”
As secretary of state, Mr. Lammy sought to build bridges with Donald Trump’s populist right-wing White House administration.
But now he has evaded the foreign briefing and turned his guns on the “international populist right network” that linked Farage to the likes of Steve Bannon in the US, Marine Le Pen in France and far-right leader Tommy Robinson in the UK.
He warned: “Currently, the populist right, although defending barriers and borders, organizes and shares more effectively than we do as an international network.
“From Martin Sellner to Tommy Robinson, it’s an international network. From Nigel Farage to Steve Bannon, they support each other. From Alice Weidel to Marine Le Pen, they learn from each other. It’s making an extraordinary impact.”
He admitted: “We are all feeling this stress and uncertainty because our people are suffering.
“And we all know they look to both left and right for the change they desire. That means politics is wide open. At this point in the cycle our polls are marked by extreme volatility, and the popular ones are those proposing change.”
But while he said the situation was “full of dangers,” he also said it was “full of possibilities.”
He emphasized that Brexit meant Britain leaving the EU, but that this did not mean Britain was no longer European, and he stood by its allies.
But he believed Labor’s victory last year, and that other parties around the world had followed suit, showed they had won in the fight against populism.
“We are here today because we cannot fail. We are in a race with the populist right to shape the politics of the 21st century,” he said.
“We are winning around the world. In July last year we won in Britain with a historic majority that no one thought was possible. We ended fourteen years of Tory rule.
“Yes, the right won elsewhere. But we’ve kept winning since then. We won in Canada in April, recovering from mid-term lows. We won in Australia in May with the same story. In September, we won in Norway, roaring back from mid-term upsets.”
In a rallying cry he insisted Farage and the populist right “cannot pass” when it comes to future elections.
“When Nigel Farage attacks, prosecutes and mobilizes complaints against the courts. This is his playbook. This is the price he will make us pay.
“That’s why they won’t pass in our elections! Why they won’t pass in your elections! They won’t pass in Europe!”
Independent Reform UK has been asked to comment.
