Kemi Badenoch has defended Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake after a civil war erupted within her own party over his jibe comparing the logo of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to a Nazi badge.
The furious row 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.
Former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman hit out saying “comparing Reform and their supporters to Nazis is wrong, irresponsible and highly counter-productive” and added: “Kevin does not speak for me”.
In an attempt to move on from the row, 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 taking pro-Russia vibes.
The row erupted when Mr Farage tweeted his party’s new logo, with the caption “coming soon”.
In response, 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 involving its former chairman Zia Yusuf, 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 CBI conference in London, Ms Badenoch defended her chairman’s actions.
She said: “Kevin Hollinrake made a joke. Reform spend a lot of time online abusing other politicians. I think they have much bigger problems.
“Like, on Friday, the (former) leader of reform in Wales sentenced to 10 years for spying on our country from the Russians. I think that’s a much, much, much bigger issue than any tweet.”
A key ally of Mr Farage finally broke Reform UK’s silence on Mr Gill on Sunday.
Zia Yusuf, the party’s former chair and a key member of Reform’s leadership, claimed that 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 its 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.
Mr Gill, 52, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison at the Old Bailey on Friday after previously pleading guilty to eight counts of bribery on dates between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019.
Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb handed him the sentence as she said that the harm he had caused was “profound” and that he had “fundamentally compromised” the integrity of a legislative body for “substantial” financial gain.
