A reform candidate for Britain’s general election who described the Russian president Vladimir Putin as “very good” has clarified his comments.
When asked about the comments he made at a popular celebration, Julian Malins said the leader was a “good Russian president” but not a good man “in the Christian sense.”
Mr Malins will become MP in Salisbury, a Wiltshire town where a woman was poisoned and later died after a suspected Russian nerve agent attack.
Leader of Reform Britain, Nigel Faragesaid he disagreed with the original comment, but that he didn’t want party candidates to be told what to think.
Mr. Malins told a public celebration on Sunday that he had met Mr. Putin, the Salisbury Journal reported.
“I met Putin and had a 10-minute conversation with him, and he seemed very good,” Malins reportedly said.
When asked about the BBC Radio Wiltshire comments, he said: “He is a very popular Russian president – as such he is a good Russian president.
“It doesn’t follow that he’s a good man in a Christian sense, of course not.”
‘A bad deed’
BBC Radio Wiltshire asked Mr Malins about his comments in the context of the 2018 Salisbury nerve agent attack.
He said: “The poisoning was undoubtedly an evil act and caused enormous damage to this city.”
The Kremlin has always denied responsibility for the attack.
Speaking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Malins said Putin should be involved in negotiations to end the war and called for “diplomacy”.
He spoke of the thousands of dead and injured and said that “the adults in the room must negotiate, not escalate the situation.”
‘He is the president of the country with the largest landmass in the world.
“It is absurd to simply label him as a bad person with whom we cannot deal,” Mr Malins added.
Responding to the candidate’s initial comments calling Putin “very good”, Farage said: “I don’t agree, but I want a political party full of nodding donkeys who are told what to do and what not to do.” think? ? No, I don’t.’
It is not the first time that the party leader has had to respond to statements made by candidates.
Melksham & Devizes candidate Malcolm Cupis described women dancing in a music video in derogatory terms on social media, calling one an “evil old witch”.
Mr Cupis told the BBC that he stood by his statements.
He said of the video: “This disgusting performance should not be available to… children. It demeans girls and encourages misogyny in boys.”
Commenting on Cupis’ language, Nigel Farage said: “It’s not polite, but you have to remember something: we are a start-up and we will have one or two candidates who are a bit rough around the world. edges.”
“All political parties have these problems,” he added.
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