The former Reform UK chair said the like was done by one of his staff and was inadvertent, though Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called his apology ‘b*******’
July 21, 2025 09:54
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has declined to sack Zia Yusuf after the former party chair admitted that his X account liked an antisemitic tweet referring to Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick as a “traiterous Zogbot”.
The post, from a far-right account with a history of racist posts, read: “Reminder that Jenrick is a traitorous Zogbot with a Jewish wife and family.
"I’m sure its unrelated that he imported infinite brown savages to rape our women and children.”
The term “Zogbot” is a reference to the Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG) conspiracy theory, which suggests that Jews secretly control various world governments and force them to promote Zionism.
It is commonly used among far-right nationalists as an insult against political figures who voice support for Israel.
Jenrick’s wife, Michal Berkner, is the grandchild of Holocaust survivors and was born in Israel. The couple have previously said they are raising their three daughters as Jewish.
After screenshots emerged on social media showing that Yusuf’s account had liked the tweet, the former Reform chairman swiftly issued an apology.
“One of the team who post to my X account accidentally pressed like on an awful antisemitic tweet earlier today. I apologise for this.
“The post also refers to ‘brown savages’, and is equally racist against me. Clearly it was not intentional.”
“The amount of antisemitism and racism on this platform is spiralling out of control, and I hope that changes soon,” he added.
Asked about the incident on Sky News, Farage said: “Everyone makes mistakes.
"Robert Jenrick in government made a lot more mistakes than Zia making one little mistake for which he immediately apologised.”
He declined to sack Yusuf from his role as head of Reform’s “DOGE” unit, modelled on the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency push to slash governmental waste, or to suspend him from the party.
The apparent mishap came amid a long-running online spat between Yusuf and Jenrick, with both attempting to portray themselves as tough on immigration.
This included a tweet in which Yusuf referred to Jenrick as a “traitor” over the data leak, exposed after two years under a legal injunction, that saw the government expose the names of around 100,000 Afghans who had worked with British forces and, consequently, resettle thousands of those on the list in the UK.
However, Jenrick declined to accept the apology and called for Yusuf to be removed from his post.
He wrote: “I call b*******. You’ve spent the last 48 hours calling me a ‘traitor’ for not drawing attention to a leaked spreadsheet with our special forces and MI6 officers’ names on.
“But we’re meant to believe this tweet attacking me as a traitor for having a Jewish wife & family was liked ‘accidentally’ by ‘one of the team’. You must think we’re all thick.
“No. The mask has slipped. 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.”
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