‘He was talking very clearly about the policy, he said, being immoral and racist’
BBC presenter Jon Kay challenged Reform’s Zia Yusuf on his false claim that Keir Starmer called voters racist.
Starmer said that Reform’s policy to scrap indefinite leave to remain was “immoral and racist”.
Last week, Reform announced that it would instead force people to re-apply for visas every five years.
Reform would reportedly raise the visa salary threshold to £60,000, nearly double the median UK salary (£31,602).
Starmer told the BBC: “I do think it’s a racist policy, I do think it’s immoral, it needs to be called out for what it is.”
Asked if he thought Reform UK was trying to appeal to racists, the Prime Minister responded: “No, I think there are plenty of people that either vote Reform or are thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated.”
On BBC Breakfast today, Yusuf falsely claimed Starmer was calling voters who supported the policy racist.
The Reform politician said: “The British people are sick and tired of having their concerns dismissed, having their concerns sneered at and having the political elite, of which Keir Starmer is the shining example of these days, basically insult them for having perfectly legitimate concerns about immigration.”
Yusuf added that “People watching this programme, listening to this programme as they go to work, a portion of their work today is going to pay for the £9 billion of welfare payments going to foreign nationals.
“And if you stand up and say ’you know what, we’re not too happy about that actually, people like Keir Starmer call you racist.”
Kaye interrupted Yusuf, stating: “He didn’t.”
He continued: “Let’s just stay with your policy and what he said about it because he was talking very clearly about the policy, he said, being immoral and racist.
“He specified that he doesn’t think voters are racist if they back it. He said he understands their frustrations, he gets it and wants to deal with it. He wasn’t calling people racist, [but] the policy.”
Despite Starmer having clearly stated he didn’t think voters were racist, Yusuf said listeners could “draw their own conclusions”.
Yusuf said there were “record” numbers of people coming to the UK “illegally” and “insane” numbers moving to the UK legally.
Ex-Reform Wales leader’s Russian bribery scandal
Yusuf was asked about ex-Reform Wales leader Nathan Gill pleading guilty to accepting bribes to make pro-Russia statements as an MEP.
Yusuf said of Gill: “He preceded my time in the party, I’ve never spoken to him, the first time I ever heard his name was in some news reports.”
The Reform politician went back to attacking Labour, calling the government “morally bankrupt” and saying “their record of delivery is atrocious”.
When pressed on Gill, and whether other Reform politicians share his pro-Russian views, Yusuf claimed he was part of a “nascent” Reform party and claimed most senior Reform figures don’t even know who he is.
Gill was the leader of Reform in Wales between March and May 2021.
Kaye then pointed out to him that BBC Breakfast had just shown several photos of Nigel Farage posing with Gill. “They obviously knew one another pretty well,” Kaye said.
Yusuf stumbled over his words, responding: “Whatever that footage is – Nigel meets tens of thousands of people on an annual basis ultimately – and he can’t be held accountable for the actions of every single person whom he comes into contact with.”
