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Nigel Farage’s commitment to the UK’s defence has been called into question after new analysis revealed that Reform MPs have taken part in just 30 per cent of parliamentary defence debates.
Reform is set to announce the appointment of a “shadow armed forces minister” next week, filling a gap on its front bench after more than two years without a defence spokesperson.
With the threats from Russia and issues in the Middle East raising increasing concerns over security and Nato warning that member states could be at war within five years, defence has become one of the top issues for the country.
The post-Budget debate was dominated by how the UK could raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 after Labour chancellor John Healey postponed a decision on the issue by at least a year.
But while Reform talks a lot about immigration and has started making interventions on the economy, it has said very little on defence even though it claims it will form the next government.
In June, Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice claimed on GB News that Mr Farage himself is the party’s defence spokesperson.
But out of 210 defence debates and questions in parliament from the King’s Speech in July 2024 until 15 July 2026, Mr Farage only spoke in 10 of them, missing another four because he had stepped down as an MP to call a by-election in his Clacton constituency.
Of the 10 defence-related interventions in parliament by Mr Farage, nine were on the Chagos Islands debate over Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial attempts to hand them over to Mauritius and lease back the crucial Diego Garcia base.
In total, Reform’s MPs only participated in 63 of the 210 debates and question sessions, 30 per cent, and took no part in 147.
This compares to 100 per cent participation by Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems, who have many more MPs.
Reform MP Lee Anderson has only spoken twice on defence-related issues in two years. The most interventions came from Mr Tice with 31 (15 per cent) on a range of issues including Russia, the defence investment plan and Northern Ireland veterans.
But the Reform leader has also missed crucial votes on issues that his party has protested about, including on whether Northern Ireland veterans should be protected from criminal prosecution for serving in the Troubles.
Tory shadow armed forces minister Mark Francois, who asked for the analysis, told The Independent: “Defence of the realm is the first duty of government, but it’s clear from this analysis that Reform simply ‘don’t do defence.’
“They still have no defence spokesman and, time and again, when we debate the subject in parliament, they don’t even turn up.
“Their only defence policy anyone has ever heard of is to shoot unarmed people in dinghies, which would constitute an illegal order, which is why nobody in the wider defence community takes them seriously on the subject, or likely ever will.”
A source close to Mr Farage dismissed the analysis, saying: “The Conservative Party talking about defence of the realm is like the Labour Party talking about fiscal conservatism. They’re two cheeks of the same backside, and they communally speak out of it.
“The reason there’s no point in dealing with their phoney Commons debates on the matter is because not only have they never jointly achieved anything on the subject, but the very premise of their “debates” are a million miles away from where the public are on this topic.
“To hell with them. To hell with their premises. People will vote Reform because they want a total and complete overhaul of this system. Not because they want some tinkering at a parliamentary level.”
A Reform UK spokesperson added: “No one has fought harder to save the Chagos Islands from being given away than Nigel. He has even helped repopulate the islands with Chagossians.
“The First Minister of the Chagossians has released a statement this week backing Nigel on this issue and highlighting all Nigel has done behind the scenes. The Tories started the betrayal and Labour tried to finish the job – only Reform and Nigel Farage have been consistent on this issue.”
