Polanski says Reform have a ‘Russia problem’

Green party leader Zack Polanski appeared on Jeremy Vine’s programme on Channel 5 alongside former Tory MP and current Reform party mayor Andrea Jenkyns, leading to a slightly heated response from Jenkyns to Polanski’s comments about Reform party figures’ links with Russia.

After the programme, Polanski posted on X that “Reform have a Russia problem”.

Reform’s Russia problem

Polanski was referring to the conviction of former Welsh Reform leader Nathan Gill, who was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison last month for admitting taking bribes to say positive things about Russia. That in turn forced his Scottish counterpart and other linked figures to deny doing the same. Jenkyns was not prepared to accept that this might be evidence of a wider problem, even though Polanski pointed out that seven other figures in Reform are also implicated:

Farage has admitted to meeting a Russian ambassador and was close to Donald Trump during the period in which Trump was accused of colluding with Russia. Of course, that led to Farage still having a page on the ‘Committee to Investigate Russia’ site set up by film director Rob Reiner, who was killed this week.

Farage has been urged to carry out inquiries and root out any remaining allegiances or relationships to Russia still within Reform. Whilst the party’s bigoted leader Farage recently called Vladimir Putin a “very bad dude,” and his sidekick Tice railed “against the monstrous tyranny of that most evil villain, Putin” it’s going to take a lot more than that to show Reform aren’t in Russia’s pocket.

YouGov polling this month on the issue suggests that a significant portion of people think Reform is pro-Russia. Among Farage’s base it doesn’t seem to be that much of an issue, as Reform supporters are more pro-Russia than those of any other political party. But, they clearly have a job on their hands.

Featured image via the Canary