The Reform Party has endorsed Ian Gribbin, their candidate for Bexhill and Battle, despite controversial comments he made in 2022. Gribbin suggested the UK should have “accepted Hitler’s offer of neutrality,” criticized Winston Churchill as “abysmal,” and praised Russian president Vladimir Putin for his perceived maturity. He claimed Putin “understands the bonds that create more stable societies” and called Western hypocrisy “preposterous.”
Gribbin also commented that women should be “deprived of health care” until male and female life expectancies are equal, labeled women the “sponging gender,” and asserted that they “only take from society.” Additionally, he described female soldiers as a “total liability” and said they “almost made me wretch [sic].”
A Reform spokesperson defended these remarks as tongue-in-cheek and maintained that Gribbin’s views on the UK’s wartime stance were “probably true.” They added that Gribbin’s comments were meant to provoke thought and debate rather than serve as endorsements. The spokesperson also noted that Gribbin’s historical perspective was once widely shared, including by the BBC of that era.
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