Chilling Farage warning from Defence Secretary – ‘do not belief him on nationwide safety’
Defence Secretary John Healey issued the warning after Nigel Farage said he would vote against plans to deploy UK troops alongside France to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage(Image: Getty Images)
Defence Secretary John Healey has warned he would not trust Nigel Farage with Britain’s national security.
It comes after the Reform UK chief said he would vote against government plans to deploy UK troops alongside France to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. Speaking to The Mirror as he travelled to Glasgow this week, the Defence Secretary Mr Healey said: “I wouldn’t trust Farage with Britain’s national security.
“A man who won’t back the commitment for British troops. A man who admires President Putin, who runs a party of Russian apologists.” He added: “This is a man whose leader in Wales was a paid, hired hand for Putin.”
At the end of last year Reform’s ex-leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, 52, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for accepting Russian bribes while serving in the European Parliament. Mr Healey was also referring to the Reform UK chief’s comments in 2014 when he was asked by GQ magazine which current leader he most admired.
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Mr Farage replied at time: “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?”
Earlier this month Keir Starmer said the UK and France would establish military hubs on Ukrainian soil and build protected facilities for weapons to help Kyiv defend itself if a peace deal to end the nearly four-year conflict is reached between Moscow and Kyiv.
And he promised MPs a vote in the Commons after any ceasefire for boots on the ground. But Mr Farage made clear he would vote against the current plans.
He told a press conference last week: “Boots on the ground. With kit? What boots, what kit? I mean, we might be able to go for six or eight weeks, but if you’re talking about a modern day reincarnation of the British Army of the Rhine, forget it.”
Mr Healey told The Mirror: “Our British forces will always do the job that we need them to do. They’ll do the job to defend us, they’ll do the job to deter us. They’ll do the job if we require them to deploy to any part of the world. I have no doubt about that and have full confidence in them.”
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Elsewhere, the Defence Secretary said his hope for 2026 is to see allies continue to stand with Ukraine and insisted a peace deal was still possible. He said: “The one man who could end the fighting today is Putin. So bringing Putin into the talks to make him match what he says will do with actions. He’s said he’s interested in peace but he’s escalated attacks in Ukraine.
“My hope for 2026 – that we, the United States, and a range of allies stand with Ukraine. And we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Pressed on how dangerous a moment the world faces with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and tensions in Iran, Mr Healey added: “I see this as an era where threats are rising. I know, we know, and people see the increase in Putin’s ships in our waters. They see the increase in incursions into NATO’s airspace. They have a sense of some of the civilian impacts of the scale of cyber attacks.”
A Reform UK spokeswoman said: “Ukraine needs security guarantees but the British Army has neither the manpower nor the equipment to take on a long term mission. Labour have not kept their promises on the defence uplift.
“Nigel Farage has been clear: a Reform government would defend NATO airspace from Russian aggression. He has also been clear that any peace deal should not turn Putin into a winner.”
