Boris Johnson brands Nigel Farage a national security threat over Russia stance

Former prime minister Boris Johnson branded Nigel Farage a threat to national security last night, saying he had serious concerns about Reform UK's stance on Russia and its approach to the economy. The remarks come after Farage vowed that a future Reform government would prevent the arrivals he dubbed the 'Boriswave' from settling permanently in Britain. In an interview, Johnson said he had confidence in the Conservative policy direction and in the energy and combativeness of party leader Kemi Badenoch, but he warned that the two areas of national security and the economy would be 'seriously tested' in the years ahead. "I think both of those will be severely tested in the years ahead, and people will actually want serious answers – and I think that the answers are going to be Conservative answers," he predicted.

Johnson said the two priorities for Britain were reducing state spending and strengthening national security in the face of what he described as the 'threat of Russia'. "I have very serious anxieties about both," he said. He questioned whether the UK should be led by Labour, whose grassroots "are still basically pro-Moscow, Corbynista" or by "this Reform gang, who are on record as saying that Nato provoked Putin's aggression". "What the world needs is UK leadership on this, and they need the UK to be strong and determined, and not to sound morally equivocal about transparent evil like invading Ukraine," he said. He attacked Reform's proposal to lift the two-child benefit cap, calling it 'ridiculous' and noting it would cost about £3.5 billion a year. "We have got to reform welfare. We have got to spend less on public services," he said. He mocked Reform's recent rise in the polls, saying it was 'on zero' when he was in Downing Street because he had 'got Brexit done'. "Who is to say whether that party will even exist before the next election," he added during the interview on the YouTube program.

Johnson also dismissed suggestions of a deal with Farage, saying the country's problems would be solved by Conservative policies and that "The Conservative Party is the oldest, most successful party in the world. It will come back." The Reform UK response issued a sharp rebuttal, with a spokesman saying: "The Boriswave was the biggest betrayal in modern political history. No wonder he wants to attack us after we exposed his terrible record in office. Reform UK will clean up Boris Johnson's mess."

Last year, Johnson had accused Farage of 'parroting Putin's lies' by suggesting Ukraine provoked Russia by seeking EU and NATO membership.