Keir Starmer accused Nigel Farage of ‘fawning over Putin’ after being asked whether past comments by the Reform UK ‘play right into the hands of Britain’s enemies’
Keir Starmer has delivered a brutal jab at Nigel Farage – accusing him of “fawning over Putin”.
He made the remark when questioned about the Reform UK leader’s past comments about the Russian tyrant. Labour MP Rachel Taylor asked the PM if Mr Farage’s words “play right into the hands of Britain’s enemies”.
The exchange came as the Prime Minister announced the biggest hike in defence spending since the Cold War. Ms Taylor said: “The honourable member for Clacton (Mr Farage) has previously said Vladimir Putin is the leader he admires the most and that it was NATO that provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“While this government rises to the challenge of investing in our defence does the Prime Minister share my concern that those comments play right into the hands of Britain’s enemies?”
Mr Starmer responded bluntly: “You don’t show patriotism by fawning over Putin.”
In February 2022 Mr Farage posted on social media that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “a consequence of EU and Nato expansion”. He claimed this gave Putin “a reason to [give to] his Russian people to say they’re coming for us again and to go to war”.
And in 2014, when asked which world leader he most admired, Mr Farage responded: “As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin.
“The way he played the whole Syria thing. Brilliant. Not that I approve of him politically. How many journalists in jail now?” In an interview with the BBC last year he clarified his remarks, saying: “I said I disliked him as a person, but I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.”
Mr Farage has come in for criticism for being slow to distance himself from Donald Trump’s attacks on Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Farage, a cheerleader for the erratic US President, eventially did so last week, saying not everything Trump said should be taken “absolutely literally”.
He went on: “Zelensky is not a dictator. But it’s only right and proper that Ukrainians have a timeline for elections.”