Farage’s views on Russia likely to be further tested after jailing of Nathan Gill
The discovery of a pro-Russian asset, Nathan Gill, at the heart of a British political party reads like the plot of a John Le Carré novel.Russia was long known to have been trying to interfere in foreign politics with online bots and cyber-disinformation over the past decade.However, the Nathan Gill case is now a concrete example of a pro-Russian agent enlisting and paying a Brexit-friendly party politician to spread the propaganda of Moscow and against Ukraine in Europe.In the 1960s, it tended more to be Labour and far-left politicians who were largely the subject of Soviet attempts to plant agents in the west.In modern times, it is no surprise that the parties Gill represented were Ukip, the Brexit party, and briefly Reform UK.
When seeking a sympathetic vessel for pro-Russia views, the nationalist, anti-EU and anti-migrant parties of Europe have been obvious targets for Vladimir Putin’s Russia – which have a shared hostility towards the European bloc.Farage, who led Ukip, the Brexit party and now Reform, and was a longstanding associate of Gill, has claimed the former MEP was a “bad apple” who betrayed his party and country.But Farage’s own publicly expressed views on Russia and Putin appear to have created an environment in which those more sympathetic than most to Moscow have been drawn to his parties.The court case shows that while Gill was the only MEP found to have taken payments for making pro-Russia statements, some of his colleagues had been making similar points in favour of Moscow’s narrative on the war in Ukraine without reward.Farage himself, who has not been under scrutiny as part of the investigation or played in role in assisting it, has spoken of his admiration for Putin as a political operator and repeatedly warned the west against “poking the Russian bear with a stick”, in recent years accusing it of provoking the war in Ukraine.
Back in 2014, he cited Putin as the politician he most admired, “as an operator but not as a human being”.Asked whether he regretted making the comments at the time, Farage told a Chatham House audience: “I said I don’t like him, I wouldn’t trust him and I wouldn’t want to live in his country, but compared with the kids who run foreign policy in this country, I’ve more respect for him than our lot.”He also made at least 17 appearances on state-owned Russia Today between 2010 and 2014, on which he made no criticisms of Russian democracy and claimed Europe was governed not by elected democracies but instead “by the worst people we have seen in Europe since 1945”.The issue of Russia is also felt by some Reform insiders to have harmed the party in last year’s election, when Farage repeated his views since the 1990s that “the ever-eastward expansion” of the Nato military alliance and the EU was giving Putin “a reason to [give to] his Russian people to say ‘they’re coming for us again’ and to go to war”.He added: “We provoked this war.
Of course, it’s his fault,”Reform UK as a party now appears to sense there is some political danger in appearing too generous towards Russia, given it is ahead in the polls and public opinion in the UK is firmly pro-Ukraine and anti-Moscow,The party said on Friday that Gill had acted in a “reprehensible, treasonous and unforgivable” way,However, Farage’s own views on Russia and Ukraine are likely to be further tested – particularly on whether he still believes the west provoked the war,Labour, no doubt, scents the possibility of undermining Reform UK’s poll lead by calling on Farage to root out pro-Russia views within his party and to disavow “Putin talking points” such as the idea that the west and Ukraine provoked Putin’s invasion.
Farage is not a politician known for letting go of long-held positions, even when it is politically expedient,But it would be good politics by Reform to take their rival party’s advice,
‘He’s the real thing’: Longley feels Chicago connection as Josh Giddey brings Bulls back to the big time | Jack Snape
Luc Longley chooses his words carefully when talking about Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, not wanting to heap any more expectation on the young Australian still finding his feet in the ferocious competition of the NBA.He says he doesn’t watch every Bulls game these days – only about half of them. That he hasn’t spoken to Giddey much since his move to Illinois. That Longley’s life in Australia, where he part-owns the Sydney Kings and Flames, takes up most of his energies rather than what is happening on the shores of Lake Michigan.Despite all this, Longley says he can’t help but feel a connection to Giddey’s emergence with the Bulls, one of the stories of the NBA season
Wales 26-52 New Zealand: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
Another week, another Welsh defeat. This latest one was 52-26, and if you missed it, it will look like just another in their long list of losses to New Zealand, which now stretches back 34 matches to 1953.But it’s just possible, too, that, for the men who coached it and played in it, for the tens of thousands in the ground, and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, it may yet come to stand for something more significant than that. Wales did not turn a corner, but they took a little look around one and got a glimpse of what the future might look like with Steve Tandy in charge.That’ll do from me as I take a breather before the Ireland v South Africa game (do join me for it)
Tom Rogers makes hat-trick history in vain as New Zealand surge past Wales
Another week, another Welsh defeat. This latest one was 52-26 and to those who missed it will look like just another in their lengthy list of losses to New Zealand, which stretches back 34 matches. But it is possible, too, that for the men who coached it, and the men who played in it, for the tens of thousands watching in the ground and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, it might yet come to stand for something more significant.Wales did not exactly turn a corner here, but they took a little look around one and got a glimpse of what a better future might be like. “A lot of what we want to do and what we’ve been working on as a team shone through today,” said their captain, Dewi Lake
Travball 1-0 Bazball: Head’s big numbers add up to a damning zero for England | Geoff Lemon
In short, England tried to play a certain style of Test cricket. Travis Head succeeded at it. As his numbers grew on the second afternoon here, what they represented grew more astonishing.A normal 16 runs from 20 balls became brisk at 26 from 23. By the time it was 50 from 37, the frame of the usual had disappeared
‘Shellshocked’ Stokes urges England to move on from mauling in first Ashes Test
Ben Stokes has warned his England players not to wallow in the pain of losing to Australia inside two days. A hotly anticipated Ashes series got off to a catastrophic start in Perth and he said they must “feel it and get rid of it” if they are to have a chance of levelling the scores in Brisbane.The England captain said the tourists were “very confident in our ability to keep Australia to under 200 and win the game”, having set the home side a target of 205. Instead, they were marmalised by Travis Head, bumped up to open in place of the injured Usman Khawaja, who scored 123 off 83 balls to power his side to the verge of victory. It was a contribution the Australia captain, Steve Smith, described as “one of the great Ashes knocks”
Australia v England: Head blasts hosts to eight-wicket Ashes win in first Test inside two days – as it happened
Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions
Falling stock markets and high shop prices hit US consumer confidence; rate cut hopes lift Wall Street – as it happened
US data agency cancels October inflation report as Fed considers whether to cut rates
Drax, the forestry industry and the guise of ‘green’ energy | Letters
Europe’s economy is geared towards a disappearing world, says ECB’s Lagarde
UK government borrows more than expected in setback before budget
Wetherspoons to open first pub in Spain – offering garlic prawns and beer from 6am