26 votes

Nigel Farage claims Russia was provoked into Ukraine war

8 comments

  1. [8]
    chocobean
    Link
    This man sounds like a complete loon. I'm not familiar with UK politics, what's his relationship with the reformed party these days and is the party in proper running at all? Okay, but there WAS...

    This man sounds like a complete loon. I'm not familiar with UK politics, what's his relationship with the reformed party these days and is the party in proper running at all?

    On why Putin invaded Ukraine, Farage said: “I stood up in the European parliament in 2014 and I said: ‘There will be a war in Ukraine.’ Why did I say that? It was obvious to me that the ever-eastward expansion of Nato and the European Union was giving this man a reason … to say: ‘They’re coming for us again,’ and to go to war.”

    Okay, but there WAS war in Ukraine in 2014 and the world sat on their hands and pretended it was okay. Russia took Crimea in February and the world did nothing to help, letting Putin build up his army for 8 years, which is what led directly to full scale invasion in 2022. Right?

    17 votes
    1. [6]
      CptBluebear
      Link Parent
      It's an opinion that should be disregarded immediately. Engaging with stupid is difficult and fruitless. There is no world where invading sovereign soil equals defending yourself. The logic just...

      It's an opinion that should be disregarded immediately. Engaging with stupid is difficult and fruitless.

      There is no world where invading sovereign soil equals defending yourself. The logic just isn't there no matter how it's spun.

      29 votes
      1. [5]
        chocobean
        Link Parent
        I agree. This is so dumb. Added question because I lack context: Why is this guy in the news?

        I agree. This is so dumb. Added question because I lack context: Why is this guy in the news?

        4 votes
        1. [2]
          Hunk
          Link Parent
          He's been an fixture of UK politics for over a decade. He's a household name in the UK. He was a prominent eurosceptic. He's synonymous with brexit. He was a member of UKIP when that political...

          He's been an fixture of UK politics for over a decade. He's a household name in the UK.
          He was a prominent eurosceptic. He's synonymous with brexit.
          He was a member of UKIP when that political party was popular and now he's leader of Reform.

          Reform is currently one of the largest political parties in the UK, currently a huge political threat to the Conservatives because they are chasing after a similar demographic of voters. They're potentially splitting the right-leaning votes so hard we may end up with a labour supermajority in this upcoming election.

          He's in the news because he's prominent, and also unfortunately he's prominent because he's been featured in the news for a long time. People either agree with him heartily or despise him, so news on him tends to garner clicks.

          12 votes
          1. Tardigrade
            Link Parent
            That's a much clearer summary than mine. I also like the description of him I heard somewhere as "The most successful unsuccessful politician". One could argue few people have affected the UK news...

            That's a much clearer summary than mine. I also like the description of him I heard somewhere as "The most successful unsuccessful politician". One could argue few people have affected the UK news cycle as much as he has and doing that whilst losing 7 times contesting seats to be MP.

            3 votes
        2. Tardigrade
          Link Parent
          Cause he's standing for (as an MP and head of) a populist right wing party that is the reinvention of the Brexit party post Brexit. Currently the polling is on the way to them being 2nd or 3rd...

          Cause he's standing for (as an MP and head of) a populist right wing party that is the reinvention of the Brexit party post Brexit. Currently the polling is on the way to them being 2nd or 3rd which is historic as the UK is basically a 2 party democracy or has been for a long time. This is all an over simplication of course and with the way UK elections work they could get 1 or 2 seats out of 650 with 20% which is stronger polling wise but not far off what UKIP (pre Brexit far right similar party he used to spearhead) did.

          11 votes
        3. PuddleOfKittens
          Link Parent
          He's repeating literal Russian propaganda, which means he's backed by a lot of groundwork.

          He's repeating literal Russian propaganda, which means he's backed by a lot of groundwork.

          7 votes
    2. 16bitclaudes
      Link Parent
      He's a known charlatan and grifter that's plagued UK politics for many years. Formerly conservative, formerly UKIP (his latest endeavour, Reform UK, is just the latest flavour of this), admirer of...

      He's a known charlatan and grifter that's plagued UK politics for many years. Formerly conservative, formerly UKIP (his latest endeavour, Reform UK, is just the latest flavour of this), admirer of Trump, Putin and Enoch Powell (incredibly divisive and now dead conservative politician who famously stood against the race relations act with his "rivers of blood" speech). More recently made some dog whistle comments on how our brown prime minister "doesn't understand our culture". You know, a real stand up gentleman.

      He routinely stirs up trouble for his own benefit and then disappears before the shit hits the fan. How he's convinced a chunk of working class people that he's one of them and has the UK's best interests at heart is beyond me. As it stands, Reform UK is unlikely to be a threat this year but they have taken a significant chunk of the conservative votes and will likely have to be given more of a platform off the back of that. I'm not thrilled that they'll be given some legitimacy.

      16 votes