Zia Yusuf says Reform will resist hotel use for asylum seekers

REFORM UK chair Zia Yusuf has said the party will use “every instrument of power” to resist housing people seeking asylum in council areas where it has gained control.

Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Yusuf said the party is exploring legal avenues including judicial reviews, injunctions, and planning laws to prevent the use of accommodation for asylum seekers in these areas.

Yusuf acknowledged that the party may not be able to stop asylum seekers from being placed in hotels where the Home Office already has contracts with accommodation providers.

“A lot of these hotels – there has been litigation around this already – a lot of these hotels, when you suddenly turn them into something else, which is essentially a hostel, that falls foul of any number of regulations, and that’s what our teams of lawyers are exploring at the moment,” he said.

His comments followed remarks by Reform leader Nigel Farage, who said the party would “resist” housing asylum seekers in the 10 council areas where it made gains in Thursday’s local elections, winning more than 670 seats overall.

Reform UK has also said it wants to cut spending by reducing roles linked to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) at local councils. Yusuf said taskforces would be introduced to audit council spending and examine job roles.

“If you take Lincolnshire county council, yes, they do not currently have somebody with the job title ‘DEI officer’, [but] they do spend considerable money on DEI initiatives,” he said.

Yusuf added that the party was “realistic” about the limited powers of local councils compared to Westminster, stating: “That’s why this is part of a journey to making Nigel the prime minister with a Reform majority.”

Andrea Jenkyns, Reform’s newly elected Greater Lincolnshire mayor and former Conservative MP, told LBC she supported housing immigrants in tents instead of hotels. “This is taxpayers’ money and it should actually be tents, not rent,” she said.

Jenkyns also called for staff cuts at Lincolnshire county council. “I think, personally, [we] ought to look at maybe cutting the workforce by up to 10%. We’ve got to have a lean, mean local government,” she said. She added that discussions were ongoing as a Reform county council leader had not yet been elected.

Responding to concerns from trade unions, Jenkyns said she was “up for a fight” with the unions, after the head of Unison encouraged staff in Reform-run councils to join for protection.