With one former MEP jailed for taking Russian bribes, Reform UK was under the spotlight – so no better time for its leader to make a swift exit

Just occasionally the House of Commons is more remarkable for who isn’t in the chamber than for who is. So it was striking that Nigel Farage was absent for Keir Starmer’s statement on the G20 summit and the Ukraine peace process.

You might have thought the man who has spent the last six months telling anyone who will listen that he will be the next prime minister might take some interest in geopolitics and Britain’s global standing. Apparently not. Only Richard Tice from Reform stayed for the session. Lee Anderson scarpered the moment it started. So brave. Maybe he had an urgent appointment with his lunch.