Badenoch defends Tory chairman over Nazi jibe at Reform
Kemi Badenoch has defended Tory party chairman Kevin Hollinrake amid a backlash after he appeared to compare Reform UK to the Nazis.
Mr Hollinrake posted a link to a Wikipedia entry about a badge handed out to members of Adolf Hitler’s party in response to a social media post from Nigel Farage showing a Reform emblem.
Tory former home secretary Suella Braverman said the comparison was “wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive”.
And Reform’s policy chief Zia Yusuf said: “This will be on leaflets and ad vans to the point of saturation, so every single one of their constituents knows: the Tories think that if you support Reform, you’re a Nazi.”
But Mrs Badenoch brushed off the row.
She told the PA news agency: “Kevin Hollinrake made a joke. Reform spend a lot of time online abusing other politicians.”
Pointing to the 10-and-a-half-year sentence handed to Reform’s former leader in Wales Nathan Gill for bribery over pro-Russian speeches, she said: “I think they have much bigger problems.”
But Mr Hollinrake’s social media activity revealed unease about how to respond to Mr Farage’s threat to the Tories.
Mrs Braverman said: “I expect this from Labour, not the Conservatives.
“Let’s raise the level of debate: criticise the policies, even challenge the people or their actions.
“But comparing Reform and their supporters to Nazis is wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive.
“Kevin does not speak for me.”
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Bobby Blackshirt’s Schooldays, all together now…
One thinks pot, kettle, black when both Labour and the Tories adopt Refor policy positions. Has not Starmer recently said some pretty objectionable stuff about immigration that some have likened to Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ statememnt. If he hadn’t wanted to risk being misunderstood, Starmer should not have made the statement he did. Aping and attemptimng to appease Reform will not work: such a simplistic approach is doomed. Far better to address ordinary people’s everyday concerns by beginning to reverse nigh on half a century of damaging neoliberal economic thinking that only further enriches the already obscenely wealthy… Read more »
Well said.
You cannot be ignorant to what farage stands for anymore.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/24/farage-urged-to-explain-conspiracy-theories-linked-to-antisemitism-he-voiced-in-us-media
If the hat fits…
Did the 1890s frame everything with Napoleon? No.
It is time to stop being obsessed with WW2. It’s wierd.
No, I think it is where we need to look for comparison of behaviour.
Obsessed? What, with the deaths of millions because one bloke was voted in (and he was) that was a complete nasty person to humanity and industrialised the whole slaughter of peoples he hated? Do we not learn from history?
The path to the chambers didn’t start on day 1 of H’s election.
Top tip. If you don’t want to be compared to Nazi’s, don’t do nazi stuff.
How’s musk doing?
As we potentially head to WW3, we need to learn from history or be doomed to repeat it. With nuclear weapons at the ready and some crazy weaponry available to some trigger happy leaders, I would say its better to be obsessed with the past mistakes especially with the rhetoric garage, putin, musk and the band are pouting.
Napoleon didn’t have six million people murdered for belonging to a particular group of people.
Every name in here is that of a s**tshow superstar but at least one is hinting at some truth. How rare?
The parallels are undeniable.
What economic harm did Napoleon do to Cymru, you might be surprised…?