Labour Minister's Blistering Attack on Farage
Labour's Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, has launched a fierce political assault on Nigel Farage, asserting that his Reform UK party has a significant 'Russia problem'. In a televised interview, Kyle accused the Reform leader of 'talking out of both sides of his mouth' regarding his stance on Vladimir Putin's regime.
The Gill Conviction and Claims of a Pro-Russia 'Culture'
The minister's comments follow the high-profile sentencing of Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales. On Friday, 24th November 2025, Gill was jailed for 10-and-a-half years after admitting to eight counts of bribery. The court heard he accepted approximately £40,000 from Russian tycoon Oleg Voloshyn, a US-sanctioned ally of Vladimir Putin, to deliver scripted speeches defending the Kremlin.
Speaking on Sky News, Peter Kyle stated that this was not an isolated incident but indicative of a deeper issue. 'With Reform, they have a Russia problem in their party,' he declared. 'Nigel Farage has often leant into Vladimir Putin. He has used his talking points... it is clear that there is a culture within Reform which has lent them towards the kind of strongman Russia.'
Kyle pointed to Farage's past comments, including the Reform leader's 2014 admission that he admired Putin 'as an operator' and his numerous appearances on the state-owned channel Russia Today. He also referenced Farage's more recent controversial remarks that Ukraine winning the war was 'for the birds' and that NATO expansion had provoked the invasion.
Reform's Response and Mounting Political Pressure
The conviction of Gill, a close former ally of Farage, has intensified scrutiny on Reform UK's connections to Russia. Defence Minister Al Carns echoed the sentiment, stating, 'We've always felt that the Reform Party is a party of Putin apologists.'
In response, Reform UK's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, sought to distance the party from Gill, describing him as 'ancient history'. He told Sky News: 'Nathan Gill, what he did was treasonous. It was horrific... He deserves the sentence that he's gotten.' Yusuf argued it was unreasonable to 'besmirch everybody else at Reform' based on the actions of one individual who had not been a member since 2021.
Pressure is now mounting on Nigel Farage to initiate a full investigation into potential Russian influence within his party. This episode presents a fresh political challenge for the Reform leader, who has consistently faced questions about his past sympathies towards the Russian president, despite his later assertions that the invasion of Ukraine was 'immoral, outrageous and indefensible'.
