State O’ The Nation

State O’ The Nation

BITE SIZE: The British public are on the side of Ukraine against Putin and Reform has got the issue badly wrong

Being matey with Trump has worked for Nigel Farage so far but he mustn't appear like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US President

Patrick O'Flynn's avatar
Patrick O'Flynn
Feb 21, 2025
∙ Paid
Donald Trump nesting dolls on red textile
Photo by Jørgen Håland on Unsplash

REFORM has caught a crab. Its positioning on the Ukraine war is all wrong and I predict that it will result in the party losing opinion poll support.

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From Nigel Farage downwards, Reform is giving the impression that its stance on the war is driven mainly by a desire to stay aligned to US President Donald Trump – whatever position Trump expounds.

Overnight this has meant Reform politicians making snide jibes at Volodymyr Zelenskyy, albeit not going so far as Trump, who has described the Ukrainian leader as a “dictator” and implied that he started the war.

The British people are not fools in these matters. They know it was the murderous, thug regime of Vladimir Putin which began the war. They know about Russia’s war crimes. And they are firmly on the side of the plucky Ukrainians in their heroic resistance (see latest polling if you doubt this).

( https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2025/02/20/c33bd/1?utm_source=daily_question&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=daily%2F2025%2F02%2F20_question_1 )

Many British voters admire many aspects of the new Trump administration – not least its determination to get to grips with illegal immigration and its uncompromising rebuff of trans militancy so that women and girls once more have access to protected spaces and sports.

But cuddling up to Putin – who has repeatedly sent his agents into our country to commit murder – while badmouthing Zelenskyy is not such an admirable aspect.

Reform is in danger of failing a key test of patriotism by subordinating the British

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