Two of Nigel Farage’s most senior spokesmen clashed publicly over Reform UK’s immigration policy.
Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf slapped down the party’s economic lead Robert Jenrick over its plans to deport hundreds of thousands of people in the UK.
Former Cabinet minister Mr Jenrick, who defected from the Tories, had qualified a key element of Reform’s plans to remove large numbers of people from Britain.
Appearing on Sky News‘ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he was asked if a foreign national who was legally resident in the UK would face automatic deportation under a Reform Government if they lived in social housing.
He stressed that these individuals would not face being removed from the country “exclusively because of that”.
He explained further: “If they fail to meet our criteria because they're not in work or they're not working as many hours, not earning enough money, then they won't be able to renew their work visa, because ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) won't exist, and they'll be asked to leave.”
But Mr Yusuf bluntly rejected his stance.
“Robert’s answer is not Reform policy,” he posted on X.
“As the person responsible for our deportation plan I want ensure people know where we stand: If a foreign national lives in social housing at taxpayer expense, they automatically fail our economic test and will be deported.”
Political opponents were swift to jump on the rift between Mr Jenrick and Mr Yusuf.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp, MP for Croydon South, posted on X: “Looks like Robert and Zia have publicly fallen out & don’t agree with each other
“Not a serious party; not a serious team.”
Hendon Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky quipped: “Top tip, @ziayusufuk: get together with your colleagues and iron out your policies rather than making it up as you go along on social media.
“Can't be that hard to organise, there's only 8 of you.”
It is not the first time that Mr Yusuf has publicly clashed with a key Reform figure.
He resigned as party chairman last June following a row over banning the burka.
He criticised comments by Reform’s then newest MP Sarah Pochin as “dumb”.
She had used her first question at Prime Minister’s Questions to urge Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka "in the interests of public safety".
At the weekend, Mr Jenrick welcomed a fall in migration figures but said the numbers need to come down “much more” as hundreds more people recently reached the UK by crossing the Channel in “small boats”.
UK net migration dropped to an estimated 171,000 last year, the lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The figures for the 12 months to December, published on Thursday, were down 48% compared with the previous year (331,000), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It is the first time the estimate, which is the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country, has fallen below 200,000 since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“These numbers are still very high,” Mr Jenrick said.
“I want the numbers to come down much more.”
Sir Keir has said the figures show his Government is “delivering” on his promise to “restore control to our borders”.
Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones told Sky News: “We’ve made a lot of progress.
“There’s absolutely more to do, there’s no question about that.”
He added that around 60,000 unsuccessful asylum seekers have been removed or deported and the number of boats bringing people to the UK has fallen so far this year.
