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 an MP in Salisbury, a Wiltshire town where a woman was poisoned and later died a suspected Russian nerve agent attack.
Leader of Reform Britain, Nigel Faragesaid he disagreed with the original comment but did not want party candidates to be told what to think about it.
Mr Malins said at 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 comments on BBC Radio Wiltshire, he said: “He is a very popular Russian president – as such he is a good Russian president.
‘It does not follow from this that he is 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 any responsibility for the attack.
Speak about The Russian invasion of UkraineMr Malins said Putin should be involved in negotiations to end the war and called for “diplomacy”.
He spoke of the thousands of people killed and injured and said that “the adults in the room must negotiate, not escalate.”
‘He is the president of the country with the largest landmass in the world.
“It is absurd to simply categorize him as a bad person with whom we cannot deal,” Malins added.
Responding to the candidate’s initial comments calling Putin “very good”, Farage said: “I don’t agree with it, but do I want a political party full of nodding donkeys being told what to think and what not to think? No, I don’t.”
It is not the first time that the party has been leader had to respond to candidates’ comments.
Melksham & Devizes candidate Malcolm Cupis described women dancing in a music video in derogatory terms on social media, calling one an “evil old witch”.
Cupis told the BBC he stood by his comments.
He said of the video: “This disgusting performance should not be available to… children. It demeans girls and encourages misogyny in boys.”
Responding to Cupis’ language, Nigel Farage said: “It’s not polite, but you have to remember something: we’re a start-up and we’re going to have one or two candidates who are a bit rough around the edges.”
“All political parties have these problems,” he added.
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