Tearing down Ukrainian flags won't boost Reform's popularity – it will bolster Putin
But with power comes responsibility. Now in charge of ten councils, Reform's policies are no longer just rhetoric –they're being put into practice. And rightly, they're now subject to far greater scrutiny.
Take, for example, Reform's decision to remove Ukrainian flags from council buildings. This isn't just a trivial gesture. It reveals a startling naivety about what the war in Ukraine is really about, the depth of Britain's involvement, and the wider consequences for Europe – including Britain, if Russia is allowed to claim even a partial victory.
Flying the Ukrainian flag is not about 'virtue signalling' or picking sides in a partisan scrap. It's about standing with a democratic nation under siege. Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty against an unprovoked, brutal invasion by a global aggressor.
Taking that flag down sends a message – whether intended or not – that Reform UK is either indifferent to, or quietly sympathetic toward, Russian aggression. That's not bold leadership; it's recklessness. And it risks putting Reform on the wrong side of history.
This war is difficult, no doubt. But the thousands of Ukrainian flags flying across Britain reflect the public's clear and consistent support, and a sobering reminder of the danger Ukrainians face every day. The flag represents resistance to tyranny, a fight for self-determination, and a defence of democracy. The very values Reform claims to champion. So, again – why pull it down?
Some Reform councillors claim the flag is 'divisive' or that 'it's not our war.' But in a world increasingly echoing the dark warnings of 1937, that's a dangerously short-sighted view. Cyber attacks, espionage, coercion, intellectual property theft, sabotage of undersea cables – we are already in a conflict, operating in the so-called 'grey zone.' Russia is not just attacking Ukraine, it's targeting the West – and Ukraine is holding the front line for us.
Make no mistake: the optics matter. Putin's regime watches Western disunity like a hawk. Every flag taken down is a signal. Every act of hesitation is seized upon. Reform UK may think it's making a statement about British identity, but globally, it's being read as weakness, division, and retreat.
From day one, Britain has been a leading ally of Ukraine – sending weapons, humanitarian aid, and training troops. Flying the Ukrainian flag at council buildings reflects that national stance. Reform's decision to go off-script risks undermining the UK's united front. What kind of message does that send to our allies? That solidarity only goes as far as a council vote?
No one is saying the flag should fly forever. But as long as Ukraine is under attack and Britain remains in the fight – symbolically, economically, militarily – the flag matters.
Reform UK wants to be taken seriously. That means knowing the difference between posturing and principle. Taking down the Ukrainian flag isn't patriotic. It's tone deaf. Let's put those flags back up – and stand with them.
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The Guardian
42 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Squeeze on Putin to accept direct peace talks with Zelenskyy
The Russian leadership continued to obfuscate on Wednesday, after European leaders and Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had agreed to a one-on-one meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to kickstart peace talks. Sergei Lavrov said Moscow did not reject any format for Ukraine peace talks but the Russian foreign minister appeared to apply the brakes, saying any leaders' meeting 'must be prepared with utmost thoroughness'. On Tuesday, a Kremlin aide said only that Putin was open to the 'idea' of 'raising the level of representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian sides' at a future meeting. The White House also announced that Viktor Orbán, the pro-Putin Hungarian prime minister, and Trump had discussed the possibility of talks being held in Budapest. As with the Kremlin, there was no apparent confirmation of this conversation from the Hungarian side. A war crimes warrant could oblige Hungarian authorities to arrest a visiting Putin, but Hungary is withdrawing from the international criminal court. Orbán explicitly committing to play host could place unwanted pressure on the Russian ruler from one of his few allies to accept the meeting as an inevitability. Austria and Switzerland also said they would be ready to host the meeting. Switzerland said that during Putin's visit it could set aside its international criminal court obligations. 'This has to do with our diplomatic role, with international Geneva as [the European] headquarters of the United Nations,' said Ignazio Cassis, the Swiss foreign minister. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Geneva was a potential location for the talks. The Austrian chancellor, Christian Stocker, said his country supported any initiative leading to a just and lasting peace protecting Ukrainian and European security. Donald Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to enforce a potential peace deal, tempering a promise to provide Kyiv with security guarantees in conjunction with European allies, write Andrew Roth and Pjotr Sauer. In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump did however say that Washington may be willing to provide air support to Ukraine in order to backstop a deal, in what would still be a remarkable shift in his administration's policy on the conflict. Putin opposes Ukraine joining Nato – Trump told Fox that 'there'll be some form of security. It can't be Nato. They're willing to put people on the ground. We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air.' Trump conceded that Putin might not want to make a deal after all, saying: 'We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks.' Nato military leaders are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine and the way forward, a US official and Nato official have told the Reuters news agency. The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Gen Dan Caine, chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, was expected to teleconference in, but plans could still change. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another Nato official said the alliance's top military commander, Alexus Grynkewich, would brief the leaders on the results of the Alaska meeting between Trump and Putin last week. Following Monday's meeting in Washington, Russia launched its biggest air assault in more than a month on Ukraine, with 270 drones and 10 missiles fired, the Ukrainian air force said. The energy ministry said the strikes caused big fires at energy facilities in the central Poltava region, home to Ukraine's only oil refinery. The governor of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, said Russian shelling killed a resident of Nikopol, a frequent target of Moscow's attacks. A Ukrainian drone attack late on Tuesday knocked out power to Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, said the Moscow-installed governor, Yevgeny Balitsky. Kyiv maintains control of the region's main administrative centre and its attacks have periodically knocked out electricity in Russian-held areas. The illegally occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station was unaffected, the plant's director told Russia's RIA news agency. The plant produces no electricity but needs power for cooling and monitoring systems to maintain safety. Russia and Ukraine exchanged more bodies of their war dead, the Moscow-run Tass news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a source. Moscow handed over the bodies of 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and had received 19 bodies of its own fallen soldiers in return, it was reported. Ukraine appeared to confirm the exchange.
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
There is no ‘Trump Doctrine' in foreign policy. Just chaos
All the elaborate efforts of the European allies to prevent Donald Trump from prostrating himself before Vladimir Putin came to naught at their summit meeting in Alaska. Flattering, coddling and petting the big baby appeared to have been in vain. Before the 15 August summit, the Europeans persuaded Trump to impose new sanctions if Putin would not agree to a ceasefire, which would serve as a prerequisite for any negotiations. But Trump willfully tossed policy like a stuffed animal out of the window of 'the Beast,' the presidential car as he eagerly invited Putin to join him for a triumphant chariot ride. The Europeans scrambled once again, trying to get the addled Trump back on the page he was on before the summit. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sped to Washington to confer with Trump to try to pick up the pieces. At their last encounter, Trump jibed: 'You don't have any cards.' But Trump had just handed over his cards to Putin. Zelenskyy was not about to play the appeasement card. The European leaders gathered in an extraordinary posse to accompany Zelenskyy in an attempt to restore a unified western position. Unlike the last Zelenskyy meeting with Trump, he was not hectored. With the Ukrainian leader urrounded by a protective phalanx, Trump made agreeable sounding but vague gestures about a future summit with both Zelenskyy and Putin. Trump seemed favorable, if indefinite and imprecise, about western forces stationed in Ukraine to maintain its sovereignty. But the notion of a ceasefire, pressed again by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, had evaporated. While the European recovery effort took place at the White House, Russian bombs rained down. Trump dreams of receiving the Nobel peace prize. Before the summit, he called the Norwegian finance minister to lobby him. In Alaska, Trump melted again in the presence of Putin while the whole world was watching. The self-abasing embarrassment of his previous meeting in Helsinki in 2018 did not serve as a cautionary precedent. Now, he invited the sanctioned war criminal to US soil. He ordered uniformed US soldiers to roll out the red carpet, 'the beautiful red carpet' as the Russian foreign ministry called it. He applauded when Putin stood next to him. He patted Putin's hand when he clasped it with an affectionate gesture. Then the door of 'the Beast' opened for Putin. Trump's personal negotiator for the summit, Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate operator whose knowledge of Russian culture to prepare him for his delicate role may had been a bowl of borscht at the Russian Tea Room on 57th Street, was easy prey for Putin. Bild, the German newspaper, reported on 9 August that Witkoff had committed an 'explosive blunder'. According to Bild, Putin 'did not deviate from his maximum demand to completely control the five Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea before the weapons remain silent … And even worse: Trump's special envoy Witkoff is said to have completely misunderstood some of the Russians' positions and misinterpreted them as an accommodation by Putin. He had misunderstood a 'peaceful withdrawal' of the Ukrainians from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia demanded by Russia as an offer of 'peaceful withdrawal' of the Russians from these regions'. 'Witkoff doesn't know what he's talking about,' a Ukrainian government official told Bild. An assessment that, according to Bild information, is also shared by German government representatives. Bild further reported: 'There was a telephone conference on Thursday evening between representatives of the US government – including the special envoy Witkoff and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance – and the European partners. As BILD learned, the American side was perceived as chaotic and ununited. This was primarily due to Witkoff, whose remarks about his conversation with Putin on Wednesday in the Kremlin were perceived as confusing. He himself seemed overwhelmed and incompetent to the Europeans when he spoke about the territorial issues in Ukraine.' The German newspaper also reported friction between Rubio and Vance, with the vice-president seeking to shut the European allies out of the process and Witkoff taking his side against the secretary of state. 'Apparently, there was also disagreement about the further course of action between Witkoff and Rubio, as the foreign minister emphasized that the Europeans should be involved in the further process, while Vance and Witkoff only wanted to inform Europe of the results of the further Trump steps.' Bild's report on Putin's position turned out to be completely accurate and its description of the Trump administration's unsettled position prophetic of the fiasco that would unfold. Little noticed in the US media accounts, Trump had presented Putin with enormous economic advantages, according to the Telegraph. He offered access to valuable Alaskan natural resources, opportunities to tap into the US portion of the Bering Strait, which would boost Russia's interests in the Arctic region. Trump promised to lift sanctions on Russia's aircraft industry, which would permit Russian airlines (and by extension the Russian air force) to return to US suppliers for parts and maintenance. Trump would give Putin approval for access to rare earth minerals in Ukrainian territories currently under Russian occupation. In Trump's new world order, Putin would be his partner, especially on the frontier of the Arctic, while Trump waged a trade war imposing harsh tariffs on every other nation. Ukraine stood as an obstacle to the gold rush. According to the Telegraph, Witkoff suggested to the Russians: 'Israel's occupation of the West Bank could be used as a model for ending the war. Russia would have military and economic control of occupied [parts of] Ukraine under its own governing body, similar to Israel's de facto rule of Palestinian territory.' Then, after Trump laid on lavish treatment for the Russian dictator at the US military base, marking his indifference to international condemnation, came the joint appearance, which exceeded the Helsinki disaster. An elated Putin and dejected Trump appeared on stage together. The announced joint press conference was a theater of the absurd. Its brevity contributed to the farce. There was no agreement, no plan for an agreement, and no press conference. Trump deferred to Putin to speak first, to set the tone and terms after which he would come on as the second banana to slip on the peel. A clearly delighted Putin reiterated his belief that Ukraine was a security threat to Russia, and that 'we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict,' which was his language for the elimination of an independent and democratic Ukraine. He blamed Biden for the war he had launched. He affirmed Trump's presumptuous boast that there would have been no war had he been president. 'Today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then, there would be no war, and I'm quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that.' A clearly glum Trump stepped to his podium. 'So there's no deal until there's a deal,' he said. He had pledged during the 2024 campaign that he could and would end the war on 'day one'. It had taken him 210 days to reach the 'No Deal'. Trump wistfully talked about doing business with Russia, his will-o'-the-wisp ambition since he attempted for decades to build a Trump Tower in Moscow even through the 2016 election. He threw Putin a bouquet. 'I've always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin, with Vladimir.' He blamed their inability to monetize their relationship to the inquiries that extensively documented Putin's covert efforts in the 2016 election to help Trump. 'We were interfered with by the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,' Trump complained. He would not let it go, drifting incoherently into his grievances. 'He knew it was a hoax, and I knew it was a hoax, but what was done was very criminal, but it made it harder for us to deal as a country, in terms of the business, and all of the things that would like to have dealt with, but we'll have a good chance when this is over.' Then, Trump praised the Russian officials accompanying Putin. Chief among them was the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who had arrived wearing a sweatshirt embossed with the Cyrillic letters 'CCCP', standing for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, signaling Putin's ultimate objective to restore the empire of the Soviet Union. The message was more than nostalgia; it was a mission statement. And Trump called Putin 'the Boss', not a reference to Bruce Springsteen. 'Next time in Moscow,' said Putin. The press conference was over. There were no questions. There were no answers. Trump fled from the stage. Before the summit, Trump threatened new sanctions if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire, but now he forgot he had ever said that. He spoke loudly and carried a tiny stick. On Air Force One, on the return to Washington, he gave an exclusive interview to his lapdog, Sean Hannity of Fox News, along on the ride for this purpose. Trump reverted to his tacit support for Putin's position. He put the burden on Zelenskyy to accede to Putin's demands, which were unchanged. Then, Trump spiraled down a wormhole, obviously anxious about his growing unpopularity and the prospect of the Democrats winning the congressional midterm elections, which has prompted him to prod the Texas Republicans to gerrymander districts and California Democrats aroused to counter it in their state. 'Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting,' said Trump. 'Look at California with that horrible governor they have. One of the worst governors in history. He is incompetent, he doesn't know what he is doing.' Is this a subject that Putin actually spoke about in their discussion? Has he had experience with mail-in voting or even know what it is? Was it brought up by Trump during their car ride? Or was Trump simply making it up for his gullible Fox News audience? Whatever the reality, Trump's fear about losing control of domestic politics was at the top of his mind as he flew away from his charade in Anchorage. The shambolic scene left in Alaska represented the wreckage of Trump's attempt at diplomacy. Setting the stage himself, Trump babbled, whined and weakly sided with Putin. Trump's foreign policy team was exposed as incompetent, confounded and feckless. This was no best and the brightest, no rise of the Vulcans, but the circus of the Koalemosians, after Koalemos, the Greek god of stupidity. Apologists for Trump, in advance of this exemplary event, had suggested that there was such a conceit as a Trump doctrine. A former Trump official from his first term, A Wess Mitchell, has called it 'The Return of Great Power Diplomacy' in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs. He described 'a new kind of diplomacy' that is 'diplomacy in its classical form' and 'an instrument of strategy'. He cited an ancient Spartan king, Archidamus II, the Roman Emperor Domitian, Cardinal Richelieu, and in his mélange did not neglect to throw in Metternich and Bismarck. (Kissinger, in his grave, must be weeping over the parading of Metternich's mannequin as a forerunner of Trump. Mitchell, in any case, dismisses Kissinger as a fake realist and an 'idealist', which would have been a revelation to Kissinger.) Left out of Mitchell's pantheon of great diplomatic influences through the ages is the influencer Laura Loomer, the loony far-right troll who has an open door to Trump, feeding him lists of national security officials he must purge. In Putin's shadow, Trump was bared as having no larger or smaller concept or strategy of Great Power politics. It would be unfair to accuse Trump of having an idea beyond his self-aggrandizement. If anything, he aspires to be like Putin, whom he called a 'genius' after his invasion of Ukraine. Putin has created and controls a vast kleptocracy. In 2017, Bill Browder, an American businessperson who had invested in Russia and has been targeted for assassination by Putin for exposing his corruption, testified before the Senate judiciary committee that Putin was 'the biggest oligarch in Russia and the richest man in the world'. Nobody, however, knows Putin's true personal wealth. Trump, the Putin manqué, is trying to turn the United States into a kleptocratic system. According to the calculations of David D Kirkpatrick in the New Yorker, in just six months of his second term his alleged personal profiteering, 'would disappoint the haters who saw Trump as a Putin-level kleptocrat. Yet some three and a half billion dollars in Presidential profits – even though my accounting is necessarily approximate – is a dizzying sum.' Meanwhile, three days before the Trump-Putin summit, the Trump family crypto business, World Liberty Financial, raised $1.5bn to buy the Trump family token. The CEO of World Liberty Financial, Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff, along with Eric Trump of WLF, will join the board of the investing company. That is the Trump doctrine. Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Reform serving voters a 'plate of chaos' as 22-year-old council leader is sacked three months into the job
A reform-led county council is serving a 'plate of chaos' as its 22-year-old deputy leader has been removed after three months in the position, the head of the opposition has said. Joseph Boam, who was elected as a Reform UK councillor for Leicestershire County Council in May, is also no longer the cabinet lead member for adult social care and communities, the leader of the Leicestershire Conservatives Deborah Taylor said in a social media post. Mr Boam, who is councillor for Whitwick in North West Leicestershire, wrote online: 'Despite the recent news, nothing's changed, I'll keep fighting for Whitwick at County Hall and doing everything I can to help get a Reform UK government and Nigel Farage as our next prime minister.' It is currently unclear why Mr Boam no longer holds the two positions in the council. The leader of the main opposition to the authority, Ms Taylor, said in a statement released on social media that the Reform-led council is delivering a 'shambles'. She said: 'The Reform Administration at Leicestershire County Council has lacked leadership and direction from the very start. 'So it comes as no surprise to us that Councillor Joseph Boam has been shown the door after just three months as Deputy Leader of Leicestershire County Council and Cabinet Lead Member for Adults. 'Frankly, he was wholly unqualified for such a critical role and lacked the experience or judgment to bring anything of value to the position. 'Adult Social Care and Communities is one of the most important and challenging portfolios in local government. 'It requires steady hands, long-term commitment and a depth of understanding. 'What it has been given instead is instability, poor judgment, and revolving-door appointments. 'At a time when Leicestershire needs stability, vision, and experienced leadership more than ever, residents are being served a plate of chaos. 'Reform promised change, what they're delivering is a shambles.' A Reform UK source said: 'Joseph deserves thanks for his role in helping to establish the Reform Group at Leicestershire County Council and we wish him well as he moves into a new role where he will continue to support the group's efforts at County Hall.' Ms Taylor said in a video posted on social media on Monday that the leader of the Reform-led county council, Dan Harrison, had 'sacked' Mr Boam over the weekend. Reform won 25 out of the 55 seats on the council and formed a minority administration after the local elections in May, taking control from the Conservatives. Mr Boam was not the youngest Reform councillor with a senior county council position, as 19-year-old George Finch is currently the leader of Warwickshire County Council.
