Nigel Farage suffered a predictable defeat in the House of Commons as MPs voted down his proposal for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
On Wednesday, the Reform UK leader proposed a 10-minute rule bill to withdraw from the ECHR.
Whilst the Labour and Tory benches were largely empty, dozens of Lib Dem MPs and opposition MPs from smaller parties turned up, and Farage was heckled as he delivered his proposal.
It was a non-starter though, with Farage comfortably defeated by 154 votes to 96, a majority of 58. Neither Labour or the Tories had whipped their MPs on the bill, so the vote was not hugely meaningful, and perhaps should be best seen as another attempt from Farage to grab some headlines.
But Lib Dem leader Ed Davey used the vote as an opportunity to launch a brutal attack on Farage, saying that his bill was perhaps inspired by Putin and Russia, the Guardian reports.
After Farage presented the bill, arguing that the ECHR is law where “judges can choose their own political interpretation,” Davey responded with his own speech.
He said Farage’s speech “totally misrepresents the European convention.”
Davey continued: “Russia under Vladimir Putin is the only country to have withdrawn from the European convention on human rights.
“Now, maybe that’s what attracts [Farage] to it. After all, he said, the world leader he most admires Russia, a country where those who oppose the regime are mysteriously pushed off balconies, where, if it isn’t enough to murder a political opponent like Alexei Navalny.”
After pointing out the myriad of benefits and protections the ECHR gives to UK citizens, Davey said: “If we do what Reform wants, the biggest cheers will come from the Kremlin and from Beijing, from Tehran, from Pyongyang, and from dictators and authoritarian regimes the world over. That would be a betrayal of everything our country stands for.
“[Farage] has made his career by damaging our country. I remember how he led the campaign for Brexit with his Conservative friends. And we know what a total mess that’s turned out to be.
“He and his friends argued Brexit would cut immigration, but immigration has gone up because of this. Just look at how badly he’s betrayed the people he claims to speak for. Brexit made the small boats crisis possible.”