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Nigel Farage’s decision to take a tougher stance on Russia has angered voters and “undermined” the UK’s role in Nato, Conservative candidates claim.
The Reform UK leader came under fire for saying Western allies provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and later reiterated his position, while insisting he was not defending President Vladimir Putin’s actions.
Conservative leader Stuart Anderson accused the Reform UK leader of endangering the country’s national security, likened Mr Farage’s stance to “appeasement” during the Second World War and said his comments had led to anger going door-to-door.
Anderson, a veteran based in south Shropshire, said it had been “days since” Farage’s intervention but he was “still hearing anger from people speaking to me on their doorsteps”.
Another candidate defending a “Red Wall” constituency is I Mr Farage’s comments were raised by concerned voters who had been considering supporting the Reform Party but have now indicated they may return to the Conservatives.
“That’s been really evident in the last few days going door to door,” the candidate said, adding, “We’re also seeing more and more Labor supporters saying they’re going to vote for the Reform Party.”
Opinion polls suggest support for the Reform Party has fallen since Mr Farage’s comments on Friday, with the party down three points in a BMG Research poll this week. I Previously they were tied with the ruling party but are now four points behind the Conservatives.
“Farage’s comments about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may explain why the Reform Party’s support has stagnated in opinion polls this week,” said BMG’s Jota Papoulidou.
“His comments are completely at odds with the mainstream views of the electorate. Just under half of Britons believe Russia is to blame for starting the conflict, with a further one in five saying Russia is primarily responsible. Only one in ten thinks both sides are equally to blame, and just one in 20 thinks the West is more to blame.”
“People think I’m a Putin apologist but of course I’m not,” Farage said on Tuesday, adding that “what he’s done in Ukraine is reprehensible.” But he said he had previously warned that NATO and the European Union’s eastward expansion “would be used by dangerous dictators as a pretext for war.”
“In Ukraine I said not to poke the Russian bear with a stick because if you do that the outcome is very predictable,” he told a rally in Devon, claiming he was the only one to say so at the time but that he had “been proven right”.
writing I“By trying to blame others, Nigel Farage is simply spreading Putin’s lies,” Anderson said.
He added: “Mr Farage’s comments undermine the UK’s role in Nato and the role that many of our armed forces play in supporting peace and security in Eastern Europe.”
Anderson served in the Army for about 10 years, before working as a security and protection officer for government officials around the world. In 2019, he became a member of Parliament and later became a government whip.
I served in Eastern Europe and Farage’s comments are offensive to us veterans.
As a military veteran and someone who served with NATO in Eastern Europe, I believe Nigel Farage’s comments are completely unacceptable and an insult to all those who have served our country.
It’s been days since he suggested the West had provoked Putin to launch an all-out invasion of Ukraine, but there is still anger to be heard from people speaking on their doorsteps.
They are right to be angry. To be blunt, the only person responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is Putin, both now and in 2014. Nigel Farage is simply spreading Putin’s lies in an attempt to shift the blame onto someone else.
I served in the Royal Green Jackets for eight years, served on NATO operational missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, I’ve been in Eastern Europe with the Defence Select Committee and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and have seen the effects of Putin’s aggression over the years.
Mr Farage’s comments undermine the UK’s role in NATO and the role many British troops play in supporting peace and security in Eastern Europe. We have been training Ukrainian soldiers in Operation Orbital since 2015, and I am incredibly proud of the role we have played then and since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
I have seen the damage Putin’s aggression has caused not only to Ukraine but other countries too – look at Georgia, which was falsely accused by Russia of aggression and committing genocide in 2008. Putin launched a full-scale invasion.
The fact that Farage has doubled down is astonishing. It plays right into Putin’s hands. Remember Putin has made deals with countries like North Korea and used nerve gas on the streets of Britain.
Appeasement, as demonstrated by Mr Farage this week, is dangerous to Britain’s security, weakens Britain’s standing on the world stage and is an insult to all of us who serve in Eastern Europe.
But, like my friends and colleagues across the Conservative Party, I am proud to support Ukraine. Ukraine is desperately trying to defend itself, and we must remain committed to ensuring that Ukraine wins and Putin is defeated. We support Ukraine, and will continue to support it, regardless of how long that lasts.
Stuart Anderson (Conservative candidate for South Shropshire)