Reform’s Robert Jenrick slapped down by Zia Yusuf as celebration’s immigration coverage unravels
Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf and the party’s economic lead and former Tory Robert Jenrick clashed over plans to deport hundreds of thousands of people from Britain
Robert Jenrick and Zia Yusuf clashed over immigration(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Reform UK has descended into civil war as its immigration policy unravelled.
Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf and the party’s economic lead Robert Jenrick clashed over plans to deport hundreds of thousands of people from Britain.
The spat comes at a difficult time for Nigel Farage, whose party has been hit with a string of revelations over controversial comments made by their by-election candidate in Makerfield, who is facing off with Andy Burnham.
The row came after the former Tory had told Sky News a foreign resident who was legally resident in the UK and lived in social housing would not face automatic deportation under a Reform Government.
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He said: “Well not exclusively. If they fail to meet our criteria, because they’re not in work, or they’re not working in as many hours, not earning enough money, then they won’t be able to renew their work visa, because ILR won’t exist, and they’ll be asked to leave.”
His comments were then slapped down online by Mr Yusuf, who took to X to call out his colleague, rather than speaking to him in person.
He posted: “Robert’s answer is not Reform policy. 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.”
Labour immigration minister Mike Tapp claimed the very public clash showed Reform UK are “making it up as they go along”.
He said: “While Reform fight amongst themselves, with no serious plan or agreement on what they actually stand for, this Labour government is getting on with delivering for working people.
“Despite the mess we inherited, Labour has delivered the lowest level of net migration since 2012 and the highest growth in the G7, alongside more neighbourhood police officers and falling NHS waiting lists. We’ve also announced the biggest boost to defence spending since the Cold War and new cost of living support for families this summer.
“Only Labour is focused on delivering security and stability for Britain – with lots done, and lots more to do.”
It comes in a week that showed migration to the UK nearly halved over the last year under the Labour Government, with hundreds of thousands fewer people coming to the country and tens of thousands fewer migrants being housed in hotels.
Net migration stood at an estimated 171,000 in the year to December 2025, down nearly a half (48%) from 331,000 in the previous 12 months, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is the lowest figure since early 2021, when the post-Brexit immigration system was introduced and Covid-19 travel restrictions were still in place.
