Two of Reform UK’s big beasts descended into a social media spat over the party’s migration policy.
On Sunday, Robert Jenrick, the party’s economics spokesman, insisted that foreign nationals living in council housing would not face automatic deportations – apparently at odds with his party’s stated policy.
The former Tory MP said: ‘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, they won’t be able to renew their work visa because [indefinite leave to remain] won’t exist and they’ll be asked to leave.’
But tom Tuesday the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf rebuked Mr Jenrick, saying his answer ‘is not Reform policy’.
‘As the person responsible for our deportation plan, I want [to] ensure people know where we stand: If a foreign national lives in social housing at taxpayers’ expense, they automatically fail our economic test and will be deported’.
The public slapdown, in the midst of a high-pressure by-election, was pounced on by Labour, who accused the party of ‘fighting amongst themselves’.
Immigration minister Mike Tapp said that the row was proof that Reform has ‘no serious plan or agreement on what they actually stand for’.
And a senior Labour source told the Daily Mail: ‘Agent Zia is working his magic.’
Robert Jenrick spelt out that living in a council house would contribute towards the case for deportation
But Zia Yusuf said living in social housing would automatically qualify a foreign national for deportation
‘Whilst he tears into his colleague publicly, we’re out there getting our message heard and it’s landing.
‘If Reform can’t manage four spokespeople, how on earth could they run the country?’
The intemperate social media fallout is the latest in a long line of furious spats between Mr Jenrick and Mr Yusuf.
Before Mr Jenrick defected to Reform UK, Mr Yusuf branded him a ‘clown’ and ‘useless’ on Elon Musk’s social media platform.
Mr Jenrick hit back: ‘Why do your own colleagues call you Zia Useless?’
The infighting came as questions emerged about how Reform’s Makerfield candidate voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The Times unearthed further deleted tweets from Robert Kenyon suggesting he did not back the vote to leave the EU.
He said: ‘Anyone who thinks I love Trump, voted Brexit… is wrong… I woke up the day after Brexit s******g myself to what was voted for.
Migration minister Mike Tapp delighted in Reform UK’s public row
Nigel Farage’s Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon (left) appeared to say he had not voted for Brexit in 2016
But today Reform UK insisted Mr Kenyon had in fact backed Brexit, with a spokesman saying: ‘Rob voted leave in 2016 and is a proud Brexiteer, unlike Andy Burnham who will drag the UK back into the EU by any means possible.’
They also denied another tweet of Mr Kenyon’s in which he appeared to support freedom of movement with European nations.
The spokesman added: ‘He has never endorsed freedom of movement in the EU’s current form, which would result in millions of non-EU foreign nationals being able to enter the country.’
In another chaotic moment for Reform UK today, MP Sarah Pochin accidentally said that the Makerfield by-election is a ‘two-horse race between Labour and Restore Britain’, mixing up her own party and the hard-Right rival outfit led by Rupert Lowe MP.
Ms Pochin, who won her own seat in a by-election last year, immediately corrected herself and said: ‘I’m sorry, oh god… I’ll be sacked for saying that!’
