Business Secretary Peter Kyle accused Nigel Farage of ‘talking out of both sides of his mouth’ as he claimed there is a pro-Russia ‘culture’ inside Reform UK
A Labour minister has launched a blazing attack on Nigel Farage – claiming Reform UK has a “Russia problem” and accusing him of “talking out of both sides of his mouth”.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle claimed there is a “culture” within the party as he accused Mr Farage of pushing Vladimir Putin’s talking points. It comes after Reform’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for taking Russian bribes.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Kyle said: “So some political parties do have outliers, and they are things which are completely out of the ordinary. But with Reform, they have a Russia problem in their party.
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“Nigel Farage has often leant into Vladimir Putin. He has used his talking points. Nigel Farage has often praised Vladimir Putin in the past. So it is clear that there is a culture within Reform which has lent them towards the kind of strongman Russia of the past, but also it is the present as well.
“And they have this problem within their party.” Challenged by host Sophie Ridge over Mr Farage and Reform disputing this, he said: “Well, just look at the facts. Look at what he said in the past.
“Look at the amount of times he’s he’s appeared on Russian TV networks. Look at the times he has praised Vladimir Putin. Look at the times when he’s explained away the decisions of Vladimir Putin…
“More recently when when the entire country has realised just how dangerous Vladimir Putin is, of course Nigel Farage does a reverse ferret, as he often does. Nigel Farage will talk out of both sides of his mouth, but he’s been consistent about one thing in the past, over many, many years, and that is support and his admiration for Vladimir Putin.
“It is no wonder that people like the former leader of the Reform Party in Wales, gravitates towards the Reform Party more than any other.”
On Friday Gill, 52, was jailed after admitting eight counts of bribery. He accepted thousands of pounds to deliver scripted speeches and speak up for an ally of Vladimir Putin accused of treason in Ukraine.
A top judge told the disgraced politician he had committed a “grave betrayal” of voters. Pressure is mounting on Mr Farage to launch an investigation into Russian influence on the Reform Party in the wake of the landmark legal case.
Former UKIP and Brexit Party MEP Gill, who was a close ally of Mr Farage, took illegal payments of around £40,000 from tycoon Oleg Voloshyn – who was branded a “pawn” of the Russian security services by the US government. An array of incriminating WhatsApp messages were uncovered by counter terror police when he was stopped at Manchester Airport in September 2021 while trying to travel to Russia.
Gill was elected as a UKIP, and later Brexit Party, MEP between 2014 and 2020. He was leader of UKIP Wales between 2014 and 2016 – while Mr Farage was the national leader.
Gill went on to become leader of Reform UK Wales between March and May 2021. He led the party’s Senedd/Welsh Parliament election campaign – but has not been a member since 2021.
Reform UK head of policy Zia Yusuf said Gill “is a guy which, far as we’re concerned, is ancient history”. He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I think that would be an incredibly unreasonable position to take.
“Nathan Gill, what he did was treasonous. It was horrific. It was awful. He’s now been dealt with by the authorities. He deserves the sentence that he’s gotten. But as you’ve just said, this is a guy which, far as we’re concerned, is ancient history.
“I’ve never met him. I’d never heard of him, actually, until I saw his name sadly in the newspapers. I think it is unreasonable to besmirch everybody else at Reform, the millions of people around the country who support Nigel (Farage) and support our party.”
Gill’s conviction poses a fresh headache for Mr Farage, who has faced continual questions about his attitudes toward Putin. Defence Minister Al Carns said on Friday: “We’ve always felt that the Reform Party is a party of Putin apologists.”
The Reform leader has been haunted by 2014 comments in which he said Putin is the world leader he most admired. In an interview Mr Farage said he admired Putin “as an operator” but “not as a human being”.
The same year he accused the EU of poking the “Russian bear with a stick” over Ukraine. And between 2010 and 2014 he is understood to have made at least 17 appearances on state-owned Russia Today.
Last year the Reform leader came under fire for telling GB News that the idea Ukraine is going to win is “for the birds”. And he suggested that the West is simply “helping to prolong a stalemate”.
Before the general election Mr Farage sparked controversy by saying the “ever eastward expansion of NATO and the European Union” had provoked Putin’s invasion. Responding to outrage in June 2024, he wrote: “Don’t blame me for telling the truth about Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“[The] invasion of Ukraine was immoral, outrageous and indefensible. As a champion of national sovereignty, I believe that Putin was entirely wrong to invade the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
“Nobody can fairly accuse me of being an appeaser. I have never sought to justify Putin’s invasion in any way and I’m not now.”
He stated: “As I have made clear on multiple occasions since then, if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don’t be surprised if he responds. And if you have neither the means nor the political will to face him down, poking a bear is obviously not good foreign policy.”