Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Nigel Farage ally Zia Yusuf of intentionally liking a racist post about one of her shadow ministers after he claimed it was an ‘accident’.
Senior Reform UK official Mr Yusuf was forced to apologise after his Twitter account ‘accidentally’ liked a racist post attacking Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick as well as his Jewish wife and children.
But shortly after sharing the apology on social media platform X, Mr Jenrick accused the Reform UK politician of ‘bull****’ and demanded he be sacked from his position in an explosive social media post.
In a statement on X Mr Jenrick said: ‘You’ve spent the last 48 hours calling me a “traitor” for not drawing attention to a leaked spreadsheet with our special forces and MI6 officers’ names on.
‘But we’re meant to believe this tweet attacking me as a traitor for having a Jewish wife & family was liked “accidentally” by “one of the team”.
‘You must think we’re all thick.
‘No. The mask has slipped. Likes are private.
‘You thought nobody would ever know. Unfortunately for you, the racist account who posted the tweet and could see the likes exposed you.
‘Reform should give you the boot.’
In response, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote: ‘Well said, Rob. Well said indeed.’
The offending statement – posted by an account called British Racial Chauvinism with the username Enoch_Is_Right – made discriminatory statements against both Jewish people and people from other minority backgrounds.
It stated: ‘Reminder that Jenrick is a traitorous Zogbot with a Jewish wife and family’.
Then, using unfounded racist stereotypes and offensive language, the tweet claimed that Jenrick had ‘imported’ people from a particular background to ‘rape our women and children.’
A video showing that Mr Yusuf’s account had liked the post began circulating on social media early this afternoon prompting demands for Reform to suspend him and launch an investigation into his conduct.
Zia Yusuf – who resigned as the Reform UK chairman in June and now leads the party’s DOGE team – insists that the post had been mistakenly liked by a staffer.
He wrote: ‘One of the team who posts to my X account accidentally pressed like on an awful antisemitic tweet earlier today.
‘I apologise for this’.
He went on to explain that language in the post was ‘equally racist against me’ proving that liking the post was ‘not intentional’.
He concluded: ‘The amount of antisemitism and racism on this platform is spiralling out of control, and I hope that changes soon.’
Also unconvinced by the apology and explanation, Conservative MP Jack Rankin wrote on X: ‘When people tell you who they are, believe them.
‘Zia Yusuf’s mask has slipped and must be sacked.’
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘This was a very concerning social media post and it is right that Zia Yusuf has distanced himself from it.
‘We hope his office will be reviewing how this happened and ensuring that it will not happen again. We will be keeping a close eye on this going forward.’
Conservative sources have noted that Mr Yusuf’s language towards Mr Jenrick has become increasingly aggressive in recent days having been ramped up in light of the Afghanistan data breach revelations.
In one post on X, Zia Yusuf accused Robert Jenrick of lying and stating: ‘you’re a traitor to your country’.
The Reform Party has been contacted for comment.
