Moment Monty Panesar is stumped by simple question in car-crash interview as he admits he DOESN'T know what Nato is despite withdrawal being his new party's top priority

This is the moment England cricket hero Monty Panesar is stumped by a simple question in a car-crash interview where he admits he doesn't know what Nato is - despite withdrawal of the alliance being his new party's top priority.

The new Workers Party of Britain candidate for Southall was revealed by party leader MP George Galloway yesterday morning outside Westminster.

But the new politician, who said he joined the party as both Labour and the Conservatives were simply 'not helping', has already run into difficulties after being confused about one of Britain's most important foreign policy agreements.

In an interview with Times Radio host Stig Abell this morning he said: 'When it comes to Nato if you ask my opinion, it's not, like I'm not really an expert I don't have a lot of knowledge on it, to be honest.

'Of my brief understanding of Nato, right, it's there to protect the, you know, the European Union, isn't it? It's there to protect, you know, everyone in the European Union.

'When it comes to Nato if you ask my opinion, it's not, like I'm not really an expert I don't have a lot of knowledge on it, to be honest.'

Mr Abell pointed out that leaving Nato was the first point in his new party's ten point programme to 'end imperialist wars and financial domination'.

The presenter said that leaving the north atlantic military alliance was quite a 'big deal' during a time of global conflict. 

Mr Panesar then gave a rambling reply about immigration, despite Nato not being an agreement on immigration, as well as his party making no mention of immigration in its 10 point plan. 

He said: 'I think the reason they're saying that, the reason our party is saying it, right, is because we don't really have control on our borders, right? 

'We have illegal migration. And then what ends up happening is some of these illegal migrants that go into the more poorer, deprived areas, and then the resources get strained in them areas. 

'And it affects, you know, the ordinary people, you know, our working people in this country. So it affects the poorest. And I think that's one of the reasons, you know, our party wants to maybe, you know, have a debate about is it really necessary to be in Nato or not.'

Nato was set up in 1949 and is a collectivist security system where independent member states agree to defend each other if any of them are attacked.

During the Cold War, Nato operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union but has since expanded into eastern Europe following its collapse and now has 32 member states.

It is seen by some as the most successful military alliance in history, and recently received two new members in Finland and Sweden who joined following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

However the Workers Party of Britain is critical of the alliance.

According to its website the party is a socialist organisation which defends the achievements of the Soviet Union. 

It states: 'The Workers Party stands on principles and will not give these up, one by one, in the misplaced hope of a truce with our enemy.

'The Workers Party stands with all those that have attempted to break free of imperialist domination and build a different kind of world. We defend the achievements of the USSR, China, Cuba etc, not least the debt owed by humanity to the Soviet Union and Red Army in their war of liberation against German fascism. 

'Our finest hour as a nation was when we stood side by side with Soviet Russia and defeated German Nazism.

'We categorically reject the attempt by the ruling class, its paid agents and the EU imperialist bloc to rewrite history so as to equate the Soviet Union with Hitlerite Germany. We shall defend the positive historical legacy of the Soviet Union as well as all those today who struggle for socialism; for an alternative world order.'

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953 and enacted policies which are believed to have killed around 40 million people.

He imposed a deliberate famine on Ukraine, killed millions of the wealthier peasants – or ‘kulaks’ – as he forced them off their land, and purged his own party, shooting thousands and sending millions more to work as slaves and perish in the Gulag.

Panesar, 41 was born in Luton to Indian Sikh parents, before going on to play for England from 2006-2013.

At his announcement as a Workers Party of Britain candidate yesterday he told MailOnline that he is sick of watching the 'average Joe' in society struggle the most under both Conservative and Labour historic leaderships, adding that 'it is time for a change'.

He said: 'They are not getting fair treatment and I'm tired of seeing the poorest people in the country being affected the most.

'They are people and their voices are not being heard.

'I want to stand for the working class people, the workers of our country, to make their lives easier.

'I am confident I will win and I'm looking forward to it.'

When pressed on what drew him to the Workers' Party he argued that both Labour and the Conservatives were simply 'not helping', and instead were pushing 'the gap between the rich and the poor' making it 'bigger and bigger.'

Just two months since Galloway won the Rochdale by-election with a hardline pro-Palestinian stance, the firebrand politician is today set to announce a further 200 candidates who will stand for his party.

Including a former UKIP member of the European parliament.

Panesar was part of the team that made it to victory in the 2009 Ashes Series and took 167 Test wickets during his career.

Panesar's last international series was against Australia in the 2013-14 Ashes, but he has not played professionally since leaving Northamptonshire in 2016.

Although never formally announcing retirement, after leaving cricket in 2016 he went on the study sports journalism at St Mary's University, London, and is currently a freelance journalist and writer.

However, in December it was announced that he had signed with the East Anglian Premier League side Great Witchingham, in Norfolk for their 2024 campaign.