With his Putin comments, Nigel Farage has reminded us who he really is
The IndependentThe best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I stood up in the European parliament in 2014 and I said, and I quote, ‘there will be a war in Ukraine’,” said the Reform UK leader, speaking to Nick Robinson on a special election BBC Panorama show. It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of Nato and the European Union was giving this man a reason to his Russian people to say ‘they’re coming for us again’ and to go to war.” Farage has been widely criticised for his remarks, with foreign secretary James Cleverly accusing him of “echoing Putin’s vile justification for the brutal invasion of Ukraine”, and John Healy, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, branding him a “Putin apologist”. Rishi Sunak has rightly said that Farage’s “appeasement” of the Russian leader only plays into his hands, and “is dangerous for Britain’s security”. Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed that Ukraine has a “Nazi army”, echoing the Russian leader’s justification for the invasion.