James Orr has a range of worrying, radical views about Russia and Ukraine
If Nigel Farage was trying to distance himself from President Vladimir Putin after his previous remarks expressing admiration for the Russian despot, then he probably ought to do more to ensure his top team agree with him.
In a bid to professionalise his operation, Farage has appointed a new head of policy. The post has been filled by Cambridge theologian James Orr. As Sam Bright reports in his Substack, Orr will be tasked with boosting Reform’s “acquisition of talent”.
But what of Orr’s views?
Bright notes in his Substack: “Orr has a range of worrying, radical views about Russia and Ukraine.
“Interviewed in August, Orr called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “regional slavic conflict”. Asked if he would call it a war, Orr said: “It is a conflict happening in the world that I don’t care very much about.”
So, Orr doesn’t care about the largest conventional military conflict in Europe since World War II or about Putin’s expansionist ambitions.
He has also praised Viktor Orban’s Hungary for its approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Just a reminder that Hungary systematically block and delay EU military aid packages to Ukraine, and sanctions on Russian oligarchs.
“I salute the Hungarian approach to this from the very beginning. It’s taken exceptional courage, diplomatic skill and caution and prescience to navigate this issue over the last three years,” he said.
And to top it off, Orr has also claimed on BBC Politics that “a lot more people have got into trouble for free speech offences in the UK than in Putin’s Russia”. Where’s the evidence for that?
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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