Danny Kruger claimed he was concerned that the UK could be led by an ‘appalling Hamas-supporting, LGBT-supporting nationalist party’
Nigel Farage is facing backlash for the second time this week, after one of his new MPs, former Tory Danny Kruger, railed against left-wing parties for supporting LGBT rights.
Speaking at a membership drive at the weekend, Kruger said that Reform is up against a “kaleidoscope of left-wing parties”, including the Lib Dems, Labour, The Green Party, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Your Party.
The East Wiltshire MP said: “What I worry about is they’re going to get together after the next election and have some sort of appalling, you know, Hamas-supporting, LGBT-supporting, you know, nationalist party against the United Kingdom trying to get us back into the EU.”
He added: “All the things that the British people have rejected time and again.”
At a press conference yesterday, Kruger was quizzed on his remarks.
Mirror journalist Alexander Brown asked: “Can you expand on what support for the LGBT community you oppose? And do you think Hamas-supporting is an equivalence?”.
Kruger failed to explain what his issue was with parties supporting LGBT+ rights.
He instead responded: “Well it’s interesting you do have a kaleidoscope of people who proclaim their belief in gay rights on the one hand and their support for Hamas on the other or at least for kind of Islamism in the Middle East.”
The Reform MP added: “I’m pointing out the incredible incoherence of the coalition that is ranged against us.”
He then claimed that if people want a “sensible moderate government”, they should support Reform UK.
Responding to Kruger’s comments, Polly Billington, the Labour MP for East Thanet, said: “Danny Kruger’s remarks are outdated and out of line. Stirring up division is Reform’s stock in trade and now LGBT people are being targeted.”
Billington noted that Kruger made these comments on the same day fellow Reform MP Sarah Pochin “embarked on a racist rant about black and Asian people on TV”.
She added: “If Nigel Farage had any backbone, he’d stand up to these dinosaurs and take action. Failure to do so is an endorsement of these divisive views.”
A Lib Dem spokesperson called Kruger’s comments “disgraceful and completely unacceptable”.
They said: “Nigel Farage’s MPs clearly have views that are completely out of step with modern Britain and its values.”
They added that the Reform leader “must confirm if he agrees with these comments”.
At the press conference yesterday, Kruger was also questioned on previous claims he made that heterosexual marriages are “the only possible basis for a safe and successful society”.
When Kruger defected to Reform last month, Farage was asked if he agreed with Kruger’s stance. He replied: “I think one thing for certain is children who have two stable parents have a better chance in life.”
He added that “the most stable relationships, the ones that last the longest, tend to be between men and women”.
Kruger has also consistently voted against measures supporting equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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