With breakthrough in UK election, far right leader Farage says establishment ‘revolt’ is underway

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage meets residents as he eats a 99 Flake ice cream in Clacton-on-Sea, eastern England, on July 4, 2024 as Britain holds a general election. (AFP)
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Updated 05 July 2024
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With breakthrough in UK election, far right leader Farage says establishment ‘revolt’ is underway

  • Reform UK, a re-brand of the Brexit Party that Farage founded in 2018, were predicted to secure 13 seats
  • Farage is a one-time Conservative who quit the party in the early 1990s to co-found the euroskeptic UK Independence Party (UKIP)

LONDON: Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage has claimed to have kickstarted a “revolt against the establishment,” after exit polls indicated his hard-right party had secured an unprecedented electoral breakthrough.
Reform UK, a re-brand of the Brexit Party that Farage founded in 2018, were predicted to secure 13 seats — the first time a party on Britain’s far-right fringes has won more than a single seat.
“This, folks, is huge,” Farage said in a social media video posted early Friday.
“The revolt against the establishment is underway,” he added on X.
Reform appeared to have far exceed expectations in the election, after it was forecast in the latter stages of the campaign to win just a handful of seats in the House of Commons.
Farage, who launched an eighth bid to become one of the country’s 650 MPs mid-way through the six-week campaign, was set to succeed finally in Clacton, eastern England, according to the exit poll for UK broadcasters.
This would put the attention-grabbing populist figurehead in a prime position to attempt his long-term aim of staging a “takeover” of the Conservatives.
Millions of their voters appeared to have already switched their support to Reform, leaving the Tories — in power since 2010 — facing their worst result in nearly two centuries, the exit polls said.
Reform’s surge comes as hard-right parties or politicians increase their appeal across Europe and in the United States.

Seen as one of Britain’s most effective communicators and campaigners, Farage — a privately educated son of a stockbroker — is a long-time ally of US President Donald Trump.
“This is the beginning of a big movement,” David Bull, Reform’s deputy leader told Sky News, as the UK awaited the official tallies late Thursday.
“This is a political revolt. It’s also a five-year plan. If we can go from nothing four years ago to winning 13 seats, imagine what we can do in five years’ time.”

Farage, 60, is a one-time Conservative who quit the party in the early 1990s to co-found the euroskeptic UK Independence Party (UKIP).
He pulled off an unprecedented win in the 2014 European Parliament elections, serving as an MEP for the fringe party for around two decades and helping to make Euroskepticism more mainstream.
But UKIP never managed to win more than one seat in a general election. Farage himself failed to become an MP on seven separate occasions.
But his national prominence continued to grow after he became a driving force behind the 2016 Brexit vote, before forging a career as a presenter on the brash right-wing TV channel GB News.
Entering the 2024 general election after initially ruling himself out, Farage said he was bidding to emulate efforts in Canada in the 1990s by right-wing fringes to take over its Conservative Party.
His candidacy dramatically re-energised Reform UK, while spooking the Tories as polls immediately registered an uptick in support for the hard-right anti-immigrant outfit.
Conservatives and centrists now fear Farage could have the perfect platform in parliament to further legitimize his staunchly anti-establishment populist messaging.
“If this exit poll is right, this feels like Nigel Farage’s dream scenario — he’ll be rubbing his hands with glee,” said Chris Hopkins, political research director at pollster Savanta.
“He’s got enough MPs to make a racket in Westminster, and the party he shares the closest political space with could be reduced to a long period of soul-searching.”


EU warns Armenia about Russian ‘hybrid threats’

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EU warns Armenia about Russian ‘hybrid threats’

YEREVAN: The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas urged Armenia to protect its democratic values amid “hybrid threats” from Russia on a visit to Yerevan on Monday.
Ties between Armenia and its traditional ally Russia have been strained since Azerbaijan’s 2023 offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Moscow did not intervene.
Russia has for years been the main mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But Brussels has played a stronger role recently, with Russia tied up with its Ukraine invasion.
Kallas visited several days after Armenia arrested a powerful cleric accused of plotting a coup against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
She said she discussed “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and specifically Russian hybrid activities in all countries” with Armenia’s foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
“Armenia’s commitment to democracy and freedom is key. These values must be protected, especially in the face of hybrid threats, disinformation, and foreign interference,” she said.
Mirzoyan warned Moscow against interfering in its internal political affairs after the arrest of powerful cleric Bagrat Galstanyan.
But speaking in Kyrgyzstan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Armenia against turning away from Moscow and against “attacks on the canonical, millennia-old Armenian Apostolic Church.”
“We do not put any pressure on Armenian authorities, we will wait for clarity on all these issues,” Lavrov said according to Russian news agencies.
“But we all understand that if Armenia turns away from its allies, its closest partners and neighbors, it will hardly be in the interests of the Armenian people,” he added.
Mirzoyan said Lavrov “would do better not to interfere in Armenia’s internal affairs and domestic politics,” calling on Russian officials to “show greater respect for the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.”
Kallas said “the EU and Armenia have never been as close as we are now.”
She announced a new EU-Armenia partnership and a 270-million-euro “resilience and growth plan for 2024-2027.” She also welcomed Armenia’s move to initiate an EU accession process earlier this year.
Kallas re-affirmed the EU’s support to normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Cyprus invites Turkiye’s Erdogan to summit despite long rift over 1974 invasion

Updated 13 min 12 sec ago
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Cyprus invites Turkiye’s Erdogan to summit despite long rift over 1974 invasion

NICOSIA: Cyprus said on Monday it would invite arch-foe Turkiye to a summit during its European Union presidency next year despite a decades-long rift over Ankara’s 1974 invasion and its backing of a breakaway state on the divided island.
Nicosia will hold the rotating EU presidency in the first six months of 2026 and plans a summit of regional leaders, including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, on issues related to the Middle East, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said.
“You can’t change geography — Turkiye will always be a neighbor state to the Republic of Cyprus .. Mr.Erdogan will of course be welcome to this summit to discuss developments in the area,” he told journalists in Nicosia.
Christodoulides had earlier said the same in a British podcast aired on Monday in response to a question, saying the summit was planned for April 2026.
The Turkish presidency did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the invitation to Erdogan.
Cyprus and Turkiye have no diplomatic relations and hosting a Turkish president might prove challenging both because of the diplomatic tightrope arising from past conflict and logistical issues.
The eastern Mediterranean island was partitioned by a Turkish invasion in 1974 sparked by a brief Greek-inspired coup, and Ankara supports a breakaway, unrecognized state in north Cyprus where it stations thousands of troops.
Christodoulides heads a Greek Cypriot administration that represents all of Cyprus within the EU but with its powers stopping at a ceasefire line splitting the island into northern and southern sections. Erdogan has never visited the south.


A hard right lawmaker is sworn in as Greece’s migration minister

Updated 42 min 51 sec ago
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A hard right lawmaker is sworn in as Greece’s migration minister

  • Thanos Plevris, 48, is expected to maintain Greece’s hard line in migration policy

ATHENS: A hard-right lawmaker was sworn in Monday as Greece’s migration minister, replacing a fellow right-wing political heavyweight who resigned following accusations of involvement in the distribution of European Union farm subsidies.
Five high-ranking government officials, including the previous migration minister, Makis Voridis, three deputy ministers and a secretary general, resigned last Friday following allegations they were involved in a scheme to provide EU agriculture subsidies to undeserving recipients.
The funds, which were handled by a government body known by its Greek acronym OPEKEPE, were allegedly given to numerous people who had made false declarations of owning or leasing non-existent pastures or livestock.
Thanos Plevris, 48, succeeded Voridis and is expected to maintain Greece’s hard line in migration policy. Both Plevris and Voridis joined the conservative New Democracy party in 2012, from the right-wing populist Popular Orthodox Rally, or LAOS, party.
Voridis has denied any involvement in the alleged farm subsidy fraud and said he resigned in order to clear his name.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has investigated the case, passed on a hefty file to the Greek Parliament last week that includes allegations of possible involvement of government ministers. Lawmakers enjoy immunity from prosecution in Greece that can only be lifted by parliamentary vote.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his New Democracy party had failed to stamp out graft.
“Significant reform efforts were made,” Mitsotakis said in a social media post. “But let’s be honest. We failed.”
He said anyone found to have received EU funds they were not entitled to would be ordered to return the money.
“Our many farmers and livestock breeders who toil and produce quality products, and all law-abiding citizens, will not tolerate scammers who claimed to have non-existent pastures and livestock, or those who enabled them to do so,” Mitsotakis said.


Scorching temperatures grip Europe, putting regions on high alert

Updated 55 min 26 sec ago
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Scorching temperatures grip Europe, putting regions on high alert

ANKARA: Forest fires fanned by high winds and hot, dry weather damaged some holiday homes in Turkiye as a lingering heat wave that has cooked much of Europe led authorities to raise warnings and tourists to find ways to beat the heat on Monday.
A heat dome hovered over an arc from France, Portugal and Spain to Turkiye, while data from European forecasters suggested other countries were set to broil further in coming days. New highs are expected on Wednesday before rain is forecast to bring respite to some areas later this week.
“Extreme heat is no longer a rare event — it has become the new normal,” tweeted UN Secretary-General António Guterres from Seville, Spain, where temperatures were expected to hit 42 Celsius (nearly 108 Fahrenheit) on Monday afternoon.
Reiterating his frequent calls for action to fight climate change, Guterres added: “The planet is getting hotter & more dangerous — no country is immune.”
In France, which was almost entirely sweltering in the heatwave on Monday and where air conditioning remains relatively rare, local and national authorities were taking extra effort to care for homeless and elderly people and people working outside.
Some tourists were putting off plans for some rigorous outdoor activities.
“We were going to do a bike tour today actually, but we decided because it was gonna be so warm not to do the bike tour,” said Andrea Tyson, 46, who was visiting Paris from New Philadelphia, Ohio.
Authorities in Portugal issued a red heat warning for seven of 18 districts as temperatures were forecast to hit 43 degrees Celsius, a day after logging a record June temperature of 46.6 degrees C. Almost all inland areas were at high risk of wildfires.
In Turkiye, forest fires fanned by strong winds damaged some holiday homes in Izmir’s Doganbey region and forced the temporary closure of the airport in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Authorities evacuated four villages as a precaution, the Forestry Ministry said.
In Italy, the Health Ministry put 21 cities under its level three “red” alert, which indicates “emergency conditions with possible negative effects” on healthy, active people as well as at-risk old people, children and chronically ill people.
Regional governments in northwestern Liguria and southern Sicily in Italy put restrictions on outdoor work, such as construction and agricultural labor, during the peak heat hours.
In southern Germany, temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) were expected on Monday, and they were forecast to creep higher until midweek – going as high as 39 degrees (102F) on Wednesday.
Some German towns and regions imposed limits on how much water can be taken from rivers and lakes.


North Korea’s Kim seen draping coffins with flag at Russia treaty anniversary

Updated 30 June 2025
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North Korea’s Kim seen draping coffins with flag at Russia treaty anniversary

SEOUL: North Korea’s state media showed on Monday leader Kim Jong Un draping coffins with the national flag in what appeared to be the repatriation of soldiers killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine, as the countries marked a landmark military treaty.
In a series of photographs displayed in the backdrop of a gala performance by North Korean and visiting Russian artists in Pyongyang, Kim is seen by rows of a half a dozen coffins, covering them with flags and pausing briefly with both hands resting on them.
The scene followed images of North Korean and Russian soldiers waving their national flags with patriotic notes written in Korean. Kim is seen at the gala seemingly overcome with emotion and audience members wiping away tears.
North Korea’s state KRT television aired the performance, which was attended by Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova who is leading a delegation to mark the first anniversary of the strategic partnership treaty as Kim’s guest.
The performance was enthusiastically received for inspiring confidence in the “ties of friendship and the genuine internationalist obligation between the peoples and armies of the two countries that were forged at the cost of blood,” KCNA news agency said.
Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the strategic partnership treaty in June last year in Pyongyang. It includes a mutual defense pact.
After months of silence, the two countries have disclosed the deployment of North Korean troops and lauded the “heroic” role they played in Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine to reclaim the Kursk region in western Russia.