Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has provoked fresh controversy by suggesting the late Queen Elizabeth II could have been a 'Putin sympathiser' while defending his own historical praise for the Russian president.
Starmer Demands Investigation into Reform-Russia Connections
The extraordinary remark came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer demanded an investigation into links between Reform UK and Russia. This follows the sentencing of the party's former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, to ten-and-a-half years in prison for taking bribes to promote pro-Russian propaganda.
Gill received £40,000 to make pro-Russian statements during his time as a Member of the European Parliament, leading to his conviction.
Farage Defends Putin Comments with Royal Comparison
When questioned about the Prime Minister's comments and his own past admiration for Vladimir Putin, Farage made a bizarre comparison involving the late monarch. He stated: "The Putin stuff is nonsense, just because I said in 2013 'I admired him as a political operator but didn't like him as a human being', before the Ukrainian invasion, I'm a Putin supporter."
He then added: "By the way, the Queen met Putin, after I said that, whether she was a Putin sympathiser, perhaps you better ask the Prime Minister, I don't know."
Queen Elizabeth II had met President Putin on several occasions as part of her constitutional duties as head of state. Their first meeting occurred in 2000 at Windsor Castle during his inaugural UK visit as Russia's president.
Reform Leader Resists Calls for Internal Probe
Farage has refused to launch an internal investigation into Russian influence on his party, claiming he lacks the necessary powers. Speaking during a visit to Wales, he argued: "I haven't got a police force. I haven't got access. I can't access your phone messages. I can't access your emails. Unless I can do that, I can't investigate."
Regarding the Gill case, Farage suggested it involved "one bad apple" and was more relevant to UKIP than Reform UK. He acknowledged: "Did UKIP have a problem with an MEP who very clearly was corrupt, yes it did. Did he join very briefly in Wales, he did and very briefly he was leader, yes."
The Reform leader continues to face scrutiny over his 2014 comments describing Putin as the world leader he most admired. In that interview, Farage clarified 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.
Between 2010 and 2014, Farage made at least 17 appearances on the state-owned Russia Today network. More recently, he faced criticism for stating that the idea Ukraine would win the war was "for the birds" and suggesting Western support was merely prolonging a stalemate.
