Kemi Badenoch has defended the Tory chair, Kevin Hollinrake, after a row erupted within her own party over his jibe comparing the logo of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to a Nazi badge.
The clash was sparked after Mr Hollinrake posted a link to a Wikipedia entry about a badge handed out to members of Adolf Hitler’s party in response to a social media post from Nigel Farage showing a Reform emblem.
Suella Braverman, the former Tory home secretary, hit out, saying, “Comparing Reform and their supporters to Nazis is wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive… Kevin does not speak for me.”
Ms Badenoch risked throwing fuel on the fire by highlighting the case last week of Nathan Gill, Reform’s former leader in Wales, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for accepting pro-Russia bribes.
After Mr Farage tweeted his party’s new logo, with the caption “coming soon”, Mr Hollinrake appeared to liken it to the Golden Party Badge, which the Nazi Party gave to members as an award for long service.
Ms Braverman, whose husband recently quit Reform after an internal party row, said: “I expect this from Labour, not the Conservatives. Let’s raise the level of debate: criticise the policies, even challenge the people or their actions. But comparing Reform and their supporters to Nazis is wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive. Kevin does not speak for me.”
Speaking to journalists at the Confederation of British Industry conference in London, Ms Badenoch defended her chair’s actions, saying: “Kevin Hollinrake made a joke. Reform spend a lot of time online abusing other politicians. I think they have much bigger problems.” She also mentioned the case of Gill, adding that it was “a much, much, much bigger issue than any tweet”.
A key ally of Mr Farage finally broke Reform UK’s silence over Gill on Sunday. Zia Yusuf, the former party chair and a key member of Reform’s leadership, said it was “unreasonable” to link Gill’s crime with the softer stance that his party and Mr Farage have taken on Vladimir Putin’s Russia and their criticism of the Ukraine war.
Mr Yusuf described Gill as “treasonous, horrific, awful” in an interview with Sir Trevor Phillips on his Sunday morning political show on Sky News.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, Gill was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison after previously pleading guilty to eight counts of bribery on dates between December 2018 and July 2019.
Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb handed down the sentence, saying the harm he had caused was “profound” and that he had “fundamentally compromised” the integrity of a legislative body for “substantial” financial gain.
