That Reform’s policy chief feels comfortable sharing a stage with someone who holds such disgraceful views speaks volumes of the kind of values Farage is comfortable with.
Reform UK’s head of policy has been condemned for sharing a stage with a white nationalist politician who has openly spoken about the need to deport minorities, in an incident which raises more questions for Nigel Farage.
James Orr, a Cambridge academic, was appointed Reform’s head of policy earlier this year. He spoke at CPAC Hungary in Budapest on March 21, sharing a stage with Martin Helme, the leader of the far-right Estonian Conservative People’s Party, an investigation by the Mirror and DeSmog has revealed.
The Mirror reported: “In 2013, Mr Helme said that his immigration policy was “If you’re Black, go back,” adding: “I want Estonia to be a white country”. He also appeared to make an alleged “white power” gesture at his swearing-in ceremony as Estonia’s finance minister in 2019, a role he held until 2021.”
The paper went on to report: “Mr Helme said that immigrants will “alter countries for good” if Western Europe doesn’t “send them back”. Cambridge academic Dr Orr, who is a close friend of US Vice President JD Vance, added that Reform’s policy is: “Not only do we have to stop mass migration, we have to start thinking about how we reverse it.”
That Reform’s policy chief feels comfortable sharing a stage with someone who holds such disgraceful views speaks volumes of the kind of values Farage is comfortable with.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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