Nigel Farage Slaps Down Zia Yusuf Over Traitor Label

Nigel Farage has slapped down Zia Yusuf after he described a former Tory cabinet minister who served in the Army “a traitor to Britain”.

The Reform UK leader said his home affairs spokesman’s comments about Ben Wallace were “over the top”.

Farage told The Sun: “That is too strong a language. I shall give him a ticking off, don’t worry.

“I’ll speak to him today, but it’s over the top.”

His comments come after a senior Reform figure said Yusuf’s remarks were “inappropriate and counter-productive”.

Tim Montgomerie – a leading political commentator who quit the Tories to join Reform – said Yusuf’s language “isn’t acceptable”.

Yusuf hit out at Ben Wallace after he criticised Reform’s plan to fix the shortage of prison spaces by sending foreign criminals abroad.

Writing on X, he said: “Incredible that this moron was defence secretary.

“Our policy today is in direct response to your government’s failures.

“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.”

Yusuf’s tweet remains up on his X feed, as does a poll in which he asks if Wallace should be “prosecuted for treason”.

The row once again highlights the tensions at the top of Reform, which has seen its poll lead over Labour disappear in recent weeks.

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