Reform Accused Of Being In 'An Almighty Mess' Over Shifting Iran War Stance
Labour have accused Reform UK of being “in an almighty mess” over the party’s shifting position on the war in Iran.
Nigel Farage said a week ago that the UK “should do all we can” to support the US and Israeli bombing of the country.
Deputy leader Richard Tice said that if Reform were in power “we would be helping the Americans and the Israelis in any way they saw appropriate”.
“If requests were made, we would have been saying ‘yes, we are pleased to help’,” he added.
However, Robert Jenrick, the party’s finance spokesman, struck a more cautious note when appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
He said: “If you’re asking me the question, do I think that it is in the interests of the British people, and at the end of the day that is what matters to Reform, for us to be deploying British airmen in bombing raids over Iran right now, when our allies have not asked us to do that, then, no, I don’t think that’s necessary.
“We will be very cautious before deploying British troops overseas into offensive action.”
A YouGov poll published last week showed that just 8% of the country believe the UK should be “actively joining the US and Israel” in bombing Iran.
A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Reform spent the past week saying they’d bomb Iran.
“Now they’ve seen the polls and panicked, leaving them in an almighty mess. That’s not serious leadership.”
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Reform has never said we want to deploy troops overseas nor involve ourselves in the bombing of Iran.
“Unlike Labour, we would have defended our base in Cyprus and ensured our armed forces are rebuilt.”