Reform's armchair generals chomping at the bit for war

It seems that the attack on Iran has got Nigel Farage’s Reform Party in a warlike mood. On Sunday, deputy leader Richard Tice was appearing on Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya to insist that a Reform government “would be helping the Americans and the Israelis in any way they saw appropriate” and would be “pleased to help” with offensive missions if asked.

Tice, whose fiancée Isabel Oakeshott lives in the Middle East, had previously written on X in response to campaigner James Melville: “So James, what is your plan? Wait til Iranian regime commits another terrorist outrage in UK, directly or via proxy, then wring your hands? Or just rely on US to protect us?

“Or be responsible & play our part in degrading once and for all the appalling Iranian regimes [sic] ability to terrorize [sic] the Middle East & Western nations? I choose the latter.”

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Nadhim Zahawi, meanwhile, the short-lived former chancellor who is now being tipped as Farage’s foreign secretary, is similarly gung-ho. He told the Sun on Sunday: “Whatever the US needs we should make all of our assets available. That means bases, hardware, logistics. We should join the bombing if needed.”

And on Sky News on Monday night, Andrea Jenkyns, the party’s mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, went even further, suggesting the UK could even put troops on the ground in Iran.

“Do I want to see British troops on the ground?” said the noted expert on geopolitics. “Ideally not at this stage, but I do think we should… you can’t rule anything out. Look, it’s too hostile and we don’t know the direction it’s going to go in. But should we be using more of our weapons and should the [HMS] Dragon be there already? Most certainly.”

So everyone in Reform is gagging for Britain to join in with the war – everyone, that is, apart from Nigel Farage. In a colossal Tuesday u-turn, Farage told Sky News: “If we can’t even defend Cyprus, let’s not get ourselves involved in another foreign war.” So, it’s bad luck for Farage’s rank and file, who seem desperate to take Britain into yet another war in the Middle East. For you, Reform armchair generals, the war is over!