Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, is under pressure to condemn one of his MPs after a controversial statement suggesting a party that supports LGBTQ+ rights could take power after the next election.
Danny Kruger, the East Wiltshire MP who recently defected from the Conservative Party, made the remarks during an interview posted on Reform UK’s official YouTube channel. While discussing the political landscape, Kruger referred to a potential coalition of left-wing parties as a “Hamas-supporting, LGBT-supporting nationalist party”.
Kruger previously stirred controversy by comparing NHS gender clinics for trans youth to Alice in Wonderland.
In the interview, Kruger said:
“We’re up against Lib Dems, Labour, Greens, we’ve got the nationalists in Wales and Scotland, there’s [Jeremy] Corbyn — which shows how bad things are in our country.”
He continued:
“What I worry about is they’re going to get together after the next election and have some sort of appalling, Hamas-supporting, LGBT-supporting, nationalist party against the United Kingdom, trying to get us back into the EU — all the things the British people have rejected time and again.”
“The only way to stop that is Reform. That means, including if you’re a former Conservative, I’m afraid to say, you’ve got to join us.”
Farage Silent on Latest Controversy
Farage is now facing calls to speak out — particularly in light of his recent failure to condemn another Reform MP, Sarah Pochin, who sparked outrage after saying she gets mad when seeing Black and Asian faces in adverts. While Farage admitted he didn’t like her “ugly” comment, he refused to call it racist.
Responding to Kruger’s remarks, Labour MP Polly Billington, who represents East Thanet, said Farage must publicly reject such “outdated and out-of-line” views.
“British values of decency, compassion and respect are under threat from Reform,” she told The Mirror. “That is what we’re up against: the politics of division and grievance that would take our great country to a very dark place.”
A Pattern of Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric
Kruger has a history of promoting conservative family ideals. At the 2023 National Conservatism Conference, he declared that heterosexual marriage was “the only basis for a safe and successful society.”
When asked whether he agreed with Kruger’s stance, Farage responded:
“One thing for certain is children who have two stable parents have a better chance in life. And the most stable relationships, maybe not my example, but the most stable relationships, the ones that last the longest, tend to be between men and women.”
Farage’s reluctance to condemn discriminatory rhetoric continues to fuel concerns over the direction of Reform UK and its growing appeal to voters disillusioned with the major parties.
