Defence Secretary John Healey has dismissed Nigel Farage's call for House of Lords appointments, branding the Reform UK leader a "Putin apologist". The Cabinet minister said he was not sure Parliament would benefit from "more Putin apologists like Nigel Farage, to be honest" when asked about the party's demands for upper chamber representation.
Farage had written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer requesting that Reform UK be allowed to appoint life peers to the Lords. In what he described as a "modest request", the Clacton MP argued that a "democratic disparity" in the unelected second chamber needed addressing.
Reform's electoral case
Reform UK received over 4.1 million votes at July's general election and now has four MPs. The party also controls ten councils in England and won what Farage called "the only by-election of this parliament".
Despite this electoral performance, Reform currently has no representation in the House of Lords. The Liberal Democrats have 76 peers despite receiving fewer votes than Reform at the general election, while the Green Party has Lords representation despite having fewer MPs.
Defence secretary's Ukraine criticism
Healey defended his strong language when pressed, pointing to Farage's past statements about Russia and Vladimir Putin. The Defence Secretary said: "Look at what he's said about Russia, look at what he's said about Putin in the past."
He argued that maximum pressure needed to be put on Putin to support Ukraine in negotiations. Healey said: "At this point, when maximum pressure needs to be put on Putin to support Ukraine in negotiations, when the maximum condemnation of Putin is required from someone who is sitting down with Trump in Alaska but turning up the attacks on Ukraine, it needs all voices."
The minister noted that "the voice of Reform is conspicuously absent in any of our discussions and any of our defence debates about Ukraine and about Russia". He urged Farage to start "weighing in alongside us and the other parties in the House of Commons" in condemning the Russian President.
Lords appointment process
Political appointments to the Lords are made at the Prime Minister's discretion, with no constitutional obligation to elevate opposition figures. However, leaders sometimes ask other parties to nominate individuals for peerages.
In December, Starmer appointed 30 new Labour peers, including his former chief of staff Sue Gray. The Conservatives appointed six new peers, while the Liberal Democrats appointed two.
Farage had previously called for Lords reform, writing that "a smaller chamber is needed" and criticising what he described as the ruling party's "lofty ambition" to abolish the Lords had "fallen by the wayside".
Sources used: "PA Media", "HuffPost UK" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
