While we might expect a Labour leader to feud with the rightwing Daily Mail during an election campaign, it is a somewhat surprising turn of events for Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK.
Farage’s return to frontline politics has been far from quiet, reaching new decibels with his comments to the BBC suggesting that the west provoked Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The comments themselves provoked rebuke from Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak and a number of other top Conservatives, as well as former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Now, Farage is embroiled in an unprecedented feud with the Daily Mail. The Mail on Sunday’s front page printed the headline: “Zelensky: Farage is infected with ‘virus of Putin’”. Farage has threatened legal action, accusing the Mail of “dishonesty” and a breach of the editors code because the quote did not specifically include Farage’s name, and did not come directly from Zelensky. The Mail’s reporting attributes the full quote – “The virus of Putinism, unfortunately, infects people” – to a source from Zelensky’s office.
