Nigel Farage has been accused of U-turning over Iran(Image: PA)
Flip-flopping Nigel Farage has shifted his stance on the Iran war as fears mount over the hit to energy bills.
The Reform UK leader initially hit out at the Government for failing to join the initial wave of US-Israeli strikes. But today, he performed a screeching U-turn, telling journalists: “Let’s not get involved in another foreign war.”
It comes after wider confusion about Reform’s stance on military action against Tehran. Deputy leader Richard Tice and Reform member Nadhim Zahawi previously backed British involvement – while Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has opposed it.
A Labour source said: “Nigel Farage and Reform spent the past week saying they would bomb Iran. Now they’re backtracking as petrol prices rise, leaving their foreign policy in chaos. That’s not serious leadership, that’s panic.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage fills a vehicle with fuel at a photo opp in Derbyshire(Image: PA)
Grilled on his position while visiting a petrol station in Derbyshire, Mr Farage said: “Given that we can’t even send a Royal Navy vessel to defend British sovereign territory and an RAF base, we certainly don’t have the capability to offer anything of any value to the Americans or the Israelis.
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“There are differing opinions as to whether we should physically join the attacks. I, as leader, am saying to you, if we can’t even defend Cyprus, let’s not get ourselves involved in another foreign war.”
Asked how he would respond to a potential US request for help from UK troops, Mr Farage said: “We don’t have the soldiers anyway. Even if we did, I would say it’s no to boots on the ground.”
But his party’s mayor in Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has previously declined to rule out putting troops on the ground in the Middle East.
Kemi Badenoch has also toned down her bullish rhetoric, after blasting Mr Starmer for holding back. At PMQs last week, she said: “We are in this war whether they like it or not. What is the PM waiting for?”
But today, the Conservative leader said: “I said that we support their actions. I never said we should join. I did say that where British bases are being attacked, we should do more than catch the arrows. We should stop the people who are attacking us. Stop the archer.”
Kemi Badenoch has also toned down her bullish rhetoric on Iran(Image: PA)
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said: “Going to war is the most serious decision a prime minister can make. Nigel Farage spent the past week calling for escalation that would make cost-of-living pressures even worse.
“If he had been prime minister he would have already dragged our country into this war, and wouldn’t be able to U-turn like he has done today. While Keir Starmer offers serious, level-headed leadership in the national interest, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have shown themselves to be unfit for office.”
It comes as Rachel Reeves faces pressure to reverse a planned hike to fuel duty in September amid fears the conflict in the Middle East will cause lengthy disruption to supplies. The Chancellor told MPs that all tax policy was kept under review as she rebuffed calls to act.
