Robert Jenrick accuses Zia Yusuf in antisemitic tweet row
Robert Jenrick has accused Zia Yusuf of “bullshit”, after the senior Reform UK figure said that a member of his team “accidentally pressed like” on an antisemitic X post.
The shadow justice secretary said that Nigel Farage’s party should give ex-chairman Mr Yusuf “the boot”.
Mr Yusuf has apologised for the incident, which comes after an anonymous X user posted a video that appeared to show Mr Yusuf liking a tweet attacking Mr Jenrick’s wife, who is Jewish.
Since last summer, likes on X have been privatised, so that only the liker and the poster can see them, rather than a wider audience.
In a message posted on X on Friday, Mr Yusuf said: “One of the team who post to my X account accidentally pressed like on an awful antisemitic tweet earlier today.
“I apologise for this.”
Mr Yusuf said the post in question is “equally racist against me” and contains reference to “brown savages”.
“The amount of antisemitism and racism on this platform is spiralling out of control, and I hope that changes soon,” he added.
Mr Jenrick called the apology “bullshit”.
“The mask has slipped,” he added.
“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.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Jenrick’s message was “well said”.
Mr Yusuf is head of Reform’s initiative to drive down local public spending, based on the US’s department of government efficiency, also known as Doge.
He was given the position after he quit as party chairman.
