PM not acting in the interests of the British people, says Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf

REFORM UK’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf has claimed that Sir Keir Starmer is not acting in the interests of the British people.

Asked about Nigel Farage’s relationship with Donald Trump, he told the Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “Everyone watching this program knows that one can be friends with somebody without agreeing on all matters, particularly when it comes to politics.

“I’m sure you have close friends with whom you do not agree on political issues, and on many occasions, Nigel has taken a stance in direct contradiction with certain things that have come out of the administration at the right time.

“Now, what I will say about Trump is, look, President Trump is doing what he believes is in the best interest of the American people, and that’s what he’s making these decisions through. And actually, a lot of people are trying to judge Trump through a certain lens.

“The reality is that Trump has a very specific way of doing things. We need leadership in this country that are making decisions through one lens and one lens only, and that is what is in the interest of the British people. Starmer does the opposite pretty openly.”

He added: “When the Tories came to power, defence spending as percentage of GDP was at 2.7%, still multi decade post-war lows, they crushed that down to 2.4%. Well, we were the first party to talk about taking it to 3 and then 3.5. I think ultimately we’re going to have to go higher than that.

“We’re really clear. Britain needs to compete on the world stage. We need to re-build. We need to re-arm and compete.

“Let’s start with where we are. So number one, let’s talk about getting to three, three and a half percent. But again, that’s a percentage of GDP. Our economy isn’t growing, right? I make a somewhat joking statement, but tragically, it might not be that much of a joke anymore.

“Starmer might get to his target on GDP spending in terms of defence, but only because our GDP keeps declining. We’ve got to get serious. We’ve got to grow our economy, and we’ve got to compete on the world stage.

“I want to say one other thing. The Tory party over their 14 years spent almost £200 billion pounds, in real terms, on foreign aid, British taxpayer money sent abroad. Just imagine what that could have bought us.”