Boris Johnson has launched a devastating attack on Nigel Farage and Reform UK, branding the party “Putin apologists” with no serious policies. The former Conservative Prime Minister dismissed polls showing Reform well ahead of both Labour and the Tories, and predicted voters would abandon Mr Farage before the next election.
He pointed out that support for the insurgent party was “very low” when he was Tory leader, with fewer than 3% of voters backing Reform. This figure is “where they should be and where they will be again,” Mr Johnson said. He also hit out at Mr Farage’s pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap, saying: “I think it’s completely mad.”
Speaking in a GB News interview, Mr Johnson attacked Reform UK’s stance on foreign policy and compared Mr Farage’s party to the far-right AfD in Germany and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France.
“I think they’re all particularly worrying on foreign policy and Ukraine in particular, and on Putin,” he said.
“I look back at some of the things that Reform have said about Nato provoking the war in Ukraine and I shudder.”
Mr Farage came under fire last year for suggesting that the West “provoked” the Russian invasion by expanding the European Union and Nato military alliance, although he has since insisted that President Vladimir Putin was to blame.
Mr Johnson said: “It is really, really worrying to think that you could have Putin apologists running this country.”
And he threw his weight behind Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has faced criticism from some party colleagues for slow progress reviving her party’s fortunes. Mr Johnson said she would rebuild support by offering “serious, sensible policies on things that people really care about”.
Calling Mrs Badenoch the “future of the Tory Party”, he said the Conservatives “will recover”.
The latest poll from YouGov found 27% of voters said they would back Reform if an election was held today, with 20% supporting Labour and 17% saying they would vote Conservative.
