Nigel Farage today slapped down Zia Yusuf for calling former Tory defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace a ‘traitor to Britain’.
The Reform UK leader admitted the comments by Mr Yusuf, his party’s home affairs spokesman, were ‘over the top’ and ‘too strong’.
Mr Yusuf lashed out at Sir Ben after he questioned Reform’s plans to deport foreign criminals from Britain, also calling the former soldier a ‘moron’.
Mr Farage promised to speak to his Reform all colleague and ‘give him a ticking off’, amid the furious spat.
‘[Traitor] is too strong a word. I shall give him a ticking off,’ Mr Farage said while campaigning in Clacton ahead of this week’s by-election.
Asked whether Mr Yusuf should delete his social media outburst at Sir Ben, Mr Farage told The Sun: ‘I’ll speak to him today. But yeah, it’s over the top.’
Mr Yusuf’s attack on Sir Ben, who was a British Army officer before entering politics, had earlier been branded ‘unacceptable’ by Tim Montgomerie, a political commentator and Reform member.
He was criticised for his ‘intemperate’ use of social media – with Mr Farage told to bring Mr Yusuf ‘under control’.
Nigel Farage has slapped down Zia Yusuf for calling former Tory defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace a ‘traitor to Britain’
The Reform UK leader admitted the comments by Mr Yusuf, his party’s home affairs spokesman, were ‘over the top’ and ‘too strong’
Mr Yusuf’s attack on Sir Ben, who was a British Army officer before entering politics, was also branded ‘unacceptable’ by a fellow senior Reform figure
The spat began after a press conference on Monday, where Mr Yusuf set out how a Reform government would deport all 10,000 foreign criminals from UK jails.
He vowed they would be sent to jail in poorer countries – such as El Salvador – if their home nations refused to take them.
But Sir Ben queried how Reform would be able to force other countries to take in criminals from British jails.
In a furious response to the ex-Cabinet minister, Mr Yusuf said it was ‘incredible that this moron was defence secretary’.
‘Our policy today is in direct response to your government’s failures,’ Mr Yusuf replied to Sir Ben on X.
‘If their home countries won’t take back their citizens that are languishing in our jails, we are renting spaces in countries like El Salvador to put them.
‘They will serve their full jail terms there, and will be banned from ever coming back to Britain.
‘They may well include some of the thousands of Afghans you imported, including those who had not been vetted properly and including Taliban fighters (!).
‘You know, the ones you took a super injunction out to keep secret from the British people? That’s why I call you a traitor to Britain. You fit the dictionary definition.’
In response to Mr Yusuf, Sir Ben wrote: ‘Oh look, a lesson from a man who never put a uniform on… just worked at bank. A man who is literally making policy and facts up.’
Tim Montgomerie, a political commentator and Reform member, was among those to condemn Mr Yusuf’s tirade.
‘This isn’t acceptable from Zia,’ he said, while adding he didn’t agree with Sir Ben ‘on this issue’.
‘Zia’s language and attitude towards any opponent is inappropriate and counter-productive.
‘Opponents are opponents… they aren’t enemies… or morons. One of the biggest question marks over Nigel Farage’s leadership is whether he brings Zia under control.’
He added that Mr Yusuf ‘is a man of huge talents but too much of his social media output is intemperate’.
Mr Yusuf lashed out at Sir Ben after he questioned Reform’s plans to deport foreign criminals from Britain
Speaking to Times Radio on Tuesday morning, Sir Ben demanded an apology from Mr Yusuf.
‘It’s just rather sad and maybe desperate,’ he said. ‘Politics comes with an amount of to-ing and fro-ing, and brickbat, but the use of the word traitor is a very loaded word.
‘Traditionally, treason and traitor comes with a death sentence, historically. And only a few weeks ago, Ann Widdecombe was murdered in what could be a political attack – and that’s under investigation, obviously.
‘Reform were telling everyone about being careful with their language and I totally agree with that.
‘But when you start calling people traitors, it is a very heavy connotation. And it’s pretty insulting, especially for me. I served my country most of my life.
‘I was in the Army for nearly nine years. I served in Parliament. I’ve stood for election, put myself in front of the electorate.
‘And none of us in government that I’ve come across have done anything deliberately to try and harm the country.’
Sir Ben had sparked the outburst from Mr Yusuf by saying Reform ‘have to answer how they will force those countries to take these offenders’, adding: ‘For decades they have refused to. If they won’t and then [a Reform government] deports them but they are released, how will that sit with their victims? And the Irish offenders will find it easy to return.’
