Reform Party chairman Richard Tice has refused to back Nigel Farage’s views on the Ukraine-Russia conflict in a tense showdown with the BBC’s Nick Robinson.
Mr Tice was asked on Radio 4 Today program if he thought it was a mistake for the leader of the Reform Party to say that the West provoked Russia’s war with Ukraine.
He said: “Let me tell you what a mistake is, it is a mistake to pretend that we have got everything right. To pretend that we have never made any mistakes in foreign policy, either in this country or in other countries. Look at what Nigel said, Libya, Syria, we have made serious mistakes in foreign policy.”
Mr Robinson repeatedly asked: “Did we provoke the war in Ukraine?” to which Mr Tice replied that Putin is “vile” and that he created the problems in Ukraine.
The BBC presenter challenged Tice that he would not repeat Farage’s words.
Mr Tice replied: “You seem obsessed with a word, but I am obsessed with learning from past mistakes and having the courage to say that we can do better, that we can only do better if we learn from the past, from what we did right and what we did wrong.”
The Reform Party chairman previously visited Ukraine as part of a group of volunteers delivering supplies to the embattled nation who are fighting for “freedom from the West.”
It was not the first time the two had clashed. At the start of the interview, Tice accused the presenter of repeating “absolute nonsense” about the party during the presentation.
Mr Robinson began the interview by saying that some voters might be put off by the extreme views of some of Reform UK’s candidates or volunteers.
A visibly angry Mr Tice responded: “Let me tell you, on the gates where I am campaigning the support is absolutely rock solid, like we have never known before.
“People don’t believe this absolute nonsense that is being perpetrated.”
Mr Tice was also questioned about undercover footage, shot by a Channel 4 journalist, showing an activist describing the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggesting members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.
The Reform party chairman said the comments were “completely inappropriate” but that the party is “growing rapidly” and will learn from its mistakes.
Asked whether the Conservative Party needed to be destroyed, he said: “You can’t reward failure and the Tories have destroyed Britain after 14 years in power. And the reality is there needs to be a complete right-wing reset in politics.
“Labour will win this election, but the Tories’ desperation is creating a culture of fear; people are fed up with that. You can’t reward failure; people want a new common-sense approach.”
The heated exchange came hours before a second reform candidate defected to the Conservative Party ahead of polling day, claiming his former party’s candidates are “racist, misogynist and intolerant”.
Georgie David, who had planned to stand as the Reform Party candidate in West Ham and Beckton, said in a statement released by the Conservative Party: “I hereby announce my decision to leave the Reform Party and withdraw as its candidate for West Ham and Beckton, with immediate effect.
“I have no doubt that the party and its top leaders are not racist.
“However, since the vast majority of candidates are in fact racists, misogynists and bigots, I do not wish to be directly associated with people who hold views that are so contrary to mine and what I stand for.”
