Farage doubles down on his Ukraine invasion comments

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have led criticism of Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader claimed that the West "provoked" Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

- TOM WATLING

It did not stop Mr Farage from doubling down on his comments, originally made in a BBC Panorama interview which aired on Friday night, in a column piece yesterday afternoon for the Daily Telegraph, claiming that he should “not be blamed for telling the truth about Putin’s war”.

Asked about the remarks during an election campaign visit in London yesterday, prime minister Mr Sunak suggested Mr Farage was “emboldening Putin”.

“What [Mr Farage] said was completely wrong and only plays into Putin’s hands,” he said. “This is a man [Mr Putin] who deployed nerve agent on the streets of Britain, who is doing deals with countries like North Korea, and this kind of appeasement is dangerous for Britain’s security, the security of our allies that rely on us, and only emboldens Putin further.”