Tag Archives: zia yusuf

Trump Official Wades Into Reform’s Irate Sky News Interview Over ‘White Lives Matter’

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A member of Donald Trump’s administration has weighed in on Zia Yusuf’s tense Sky News interview over the Henry Nowak murder.

The 18-year-old student was stabbed repeatedly by Vickrum Digwa last December, who then told police attending the incident that he had been the victim of racism.

As Henry lay dying on the ground, and despite telling the officers that he could not breathe and had been stabbed, he was handcuffed and arrested.

Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years at Southampton Crown Court on Monday.

Reform leader Nigel Farage controversially claimed the case was proof of “two-tier policing” in the UK, insisted: “White lives matter, too”, and called for “pure cold rage” from the public in response.

Sky’s Cathy Newman asked Yusuf, who is Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, if he thought that was incitement from Farage.

But he bizarrely deflected by asking what her emotional response to the bodycam footage from officers attending the scene of Nowak’s death.

She said it was “heartbreaking” – but pointed out that his family have asked for Henry’s death not to be used for more division.

When Yusuf asked again for the presenter’s response, she had to remind him: “I’m interviewing you!”

The two then clashed over Reform’s repeated use of “white lives matter” as the senior politician continued to side-step direct questions about racism against Black and ethnic minorities from police.

Yusuf eventually said it was “unacceptable for anyone to be discriminated against” – but went on to attack Newman for the “premise” of her questions.

He also admitted that he has not spoken directly to Henry Nowak’s family, despite their requests for no political point scoring.

Sarah B Rogers, the US under-secretary of state for public diplomacy, responded to a clip of their tense exchange on X – and took Yusuf’s side.

Ignoring Farage’s call for “pure cold rage”, Rogers wrote: “I will answer Cathy’s question: stating effectively ‘this video should outrage you’ is nowhere near incitement under any lucid standard.

“Moreover, it is true.”

This is not the first time Rogers has weighed into UK rows, accusing the UK of parroting Russia for considering a ban on X, and mocking prime minister Keir Starmer and his then-chief of staff over Christmas.

Newman later responded to the interview on X, writing: “Well that was fiery. Shame you couldn’t be on the sofa [Zia] but glad we got to chat (though I think you might have asked as many questions as I did!)”

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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‘Establishment Stooge’: Zia Yusuf Unveils ‘Abhorrent’ Plans To Punish Areas Which Do Not Vote Reform

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Reform UK has been slammed after it revealed a new policy to put migrant detention facilities in constituencies and councils not controlled by its own representatives.

Days out from the local elections in England, and devolved elections in Wales and Scotland, Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf declared that a Reform government would “deport all illegal migrants in Britain”.

While waiting to be deported, the migrants would be housed in detention centres for a “couple of weeks”.

Yusuf claimed: “A Reform government will not put any migrant detention facilities in any constituency with a Reform MP.

“Nor will we put them where Reform controls the council.

“And of the remaining areas, we will prioritise Green controlled parliamentary constituencies and Green controlled councils to locate the detention centres.”

Yusuf said this meant if Reform representatives were voted in, they would “guarantee you won’t have a detention centre near you” – but, “if you vote Green, there’s a good chance you will.”

Reform called this “an important exercise in democratic consent”.

The senior Reform figure added: “Given Zack Polanski openly advocates for open borders, we look forward to their warm embrace of this policy.”

Deputy Green leader Mothin Ali said: “Reform keep making abhorrent announcements to distract voters from they fact they want to privatise the NHS.”

A Green Party source told HuffPost UK: “The shine is coming off Nigel Farage, his own voters are starting to see him for the establishment stooge he is.”

Green leader Zack Polanski wrote on X: “Reform took a £5m donation and they’re trying to distract you.”

Reform’s announcement comes after party leader Nigel Farage was heavily criticised for pulling out the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg last minute.

The party claimed Farage was campaigning in his constituency in Clacton.

However, his critics suggested he was evading scrutiny after the Guardian reported that he had received a £5 million donation from a crypto billionaire shortly before he decided to run to be an MP in 2024.

The Conservatives also criticised the new migrant policy, as leader Kemi Badenoch retweeted a post from former cabinet minister Simon Clarke which called the policy an “appalling waste of public money”.

Clarke noted that these detention centres would likely be set up in other areas where the public have not voted for Reform – including Conservative seats.

He said: “Zia is proposing the siting of detention centres expressly as a form of political punishment for people and places that don’t vote Reform – not just Green, but presumably Conservative, Liberal and Labour too. (And what about Reform voters in those constituencies?)

“It would almost certainly be deemed an abuse of ministerial power for political purposes, and as such would likely be stuck down in court before ever being implemented, wasting millions for the taxpayer without detaining anyone.

“If it were to go ahead, it would still represent an appalling waste of public money as these sites might well not be in any way suitable for the proposed centres, or near the other infrastructure required.

“What’s worse is that he is doing all this to provoke outrage and draw attention to Reform a few days out from the local elections.

“Reform know what they are doing.

“But this goes beyond a pre-election stunt. It’s declared as a major policy commitment, and should be treated as such.”

Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Reform’s Zia Yusuf Sparks Strong Response After Clash With BBC Question Time Audience Member

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Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf startled BBC Question Time audience members on Thursday with his curt response to a question.

During an immigration special, one member of the crowd took issue with the anti-immigration party’s claim that there are enough people in the UK to “not need foreign doctors”.

The man in the audience said: “I joined the NHS as a student in 1974. We’ve been totally reliant on doctors from Asia initially, and the care sector is totally dependent on care workers from abroad, despite nine million people not being in work.”

He said population growth and a shortage of funds for hospitals has gone down, telling Yusuf: “So you’re conflating lots of different things to make your argument.”

He pointed out that Reform has promised migrant workers will lose their indefinite leave to remain if they get into government.

“So if you’ve worked as a care worker in nursing home for 40 years, you are already since last year not allowed to bring your children over,” the man said.

“When you get to 65, you’ll be sent back to where you came from, is that what you’re suggesting?”

Yusuf said: “No. It’s not at all. And if you’d paid attention to what we are announcing, you would not have that view.”

A surprised “ooh” went around the hall at that response, but Yusuf continued: “My mother is a care home worker –”

Migration minister Mike Tapp then chimed in: “Typically rude. Be polite to people at the same time. They’re not decent, that’s the problem.”

Yusuf ignored the response to his tone and said Reform have announced they will have an “acute skills shortage visa specifically for sectors like the care home sector”.

The Reform representative also hit out at the show later, criticising the BBC for supposedly “planting” small boat migrants in the audience.

Yusuf told GB News: “How on earth it should be deemed appropriate that people who have broken into this country illegally should have a seat at the table in a discussion about illegal immigration… it is bewildering.”

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Reform UK Chief Left Squirming Over Former Party Leader Who Made Pro-Russia Statements For Cash

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A senior Reform UK official was left squirming over a former leader of the party who has admitted making pro-Russia statements for cash.

Nathan Gill, who led Reform in Wales, last week pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight counts of bribery between 2018 and 2019.

His activities were said to include making pro-Russian statements about events in Ukraine in the European Parliament and in opinion pieces to news outlets.

Gill was first elected as a UKIP member of the European Parliament in 2014 and became an MEP for the Brexit Party after the UK formally left the EU in 2020.

He led Reform UK’s 2021 Welsh Parliament election campaign but is no longer a member of the party.

On BBC Breakfast on Monday, Reform policy chief Zia Yusuf said what he had done was “appalling and totally unacceptable and treacherous”.

However, he then went on to accuse Labour of “smears and name calling” to deflect from the government’s record.

Asked by presenter Jon Kay if anyone else in Reform shared Gill’s views, Yusuf said: “The first time I heard his name or seen his name was in news reports.”

As he insisted “most people in the senior leadership team” of Reform had never heard of him, Kay pointed out that they had just shown a number of images of him with party leader Nigel Farage.

“We’ve just shown our viewers pictures of Nigel Farage with his arm around him holding a Union Flag – they obviously knew one another pretty well,” he said.

Yusuf said: “Whatever that footage is, Nigel meets tens of thousands of people on an annual basis ultimately. He can’t be held accountable for the actions of everyone he comes into contact with.

“Given he has pleaded guilty, I have no concerns in telling you that is atrocious behaviour and we condemn it.

“Reform is a very nascent political party and in the end what we’ve got to stick to is the issues that matter to British people, and smearing Reform, calling Reform voters names, calling us racist, these issues no longer matter.”

Watch the exchange below:

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‘What are voters to make of the fact your former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for making statements in the European Parliament in favour of Russia?’

Zia Yusuf from Reform UK was questioned on #BBCBreakfast after Nathan Gill admitted the offences while he… pic.twitter.com/ZdSc5ztUtc

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 29, 2025

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‘What are voters to make of the fact your former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for making statements in the European Parliament in favour of Russia?’

Zia Yusuf from Reform UK was questioned on #BBCBreakfast after Nathan Gill admitted the offences while he… pic.twitter.com/ZdSc5ztUtc

— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 29, 2025

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