Labour condemns Nigel Farage after he ducks calls for probe into potential Reform UK links to Russia – UK politics live
Farage says he will not carry out a wider investigation after last week’s sentencing of former Reform UK leader in Wales, Nathan GillIt is not just Labour attacking Reform UK....
By Andrew Sparrow · The Guardian World
Farage says he will not carry out a wider investigation after last week’s sentencing of former Reform UK leader in Wales, Nathan Gill It is not just Labour attacking Reform UK. On Sunday Kevin Hollinrake , the Conservative party chair, posted a message on social media comparing a Reform UK badge to a Nazi swastika. In response to complaints, he took that post down, but replaced it with another (still up this morning ) including a link to a Wikipedia page about a Nazi badge, implying the comparison has some merit. That did not quell the criticism, and yesterday Kemi Badenoch , the Tory leader, defended Hollinrake by saying he was just being funny . But this morning James Cleverly , the shadow housing secretary, declined to fully defend Hollinrake. He said the Tory chair was “trying to make a point” but it was “not necessarily the way I would have made it”. The point that I think he is making is that – I mean, the situation with Nathan Gill, the former Reform leader in Wales who’s now been imprisoned for corruption charges having been bribed by Russia to promote pro-Moscow propaganda – is something that is worth highlighting. Kevin sought to do that in his own way. That’s a decision that he made, but I think it is right, not that we criticise people who vote Reform – these are people who we need to win over, and indeed often win back to voting Conservative – but I think it is absolutely legitimate to ask some very, very serious questions about the motivation of some of the elected people within Reform. Continue reading...