Conservative defectors to Reform could be hauled in front of an inquiry into the causes of a peak in non-EU migration which took place under the last government, Zia Yusuf has signalled.
Reform leader Nigel Farage and home affairs spokesman Mr Yusuf suggested that their ex-Tory colleagues Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman could be called to speak in an investigation into the so-called “Boriswave” of post-Brexit migrants.
Some 4.8 million legal migrants arrived in the UK between 2021 and 2024, a significant rise on previous years which was influenced by schemes including refugee programmes for Hongkongers and Ukrainians fleeing strife in their homelands, as well as a demand for workers to fill shortage occupations.
The resulting net migration over the period was more than 2.5 million people when emigration out of the UK was accounted for, according to official figures.
In analysis released on Monday, Reform UK claimed that between 1.6 million and 2.2 million people from this wave of migrants could be granted settled status in the UK, resulting in a £622 billion “lifetime cost” to the taxpayer.
Reform sources told the Express newspaper that the party would look at hauling in senior Conservative figures including Mr Johnson, and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel to account for the Boriswave as part of a proposed inquiry into the migration peak.
Asked at a press conference in central London if this would extend to ex-Tories such as Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman who had since joined Reform, Mr Yusuf indicated it would.
He said: “If your question is, will anyone be… if they are relevant witnesses to the inquiry, they will be compelled to come and give statements under oath, and we’re very clear about that.
“As Suella has already tweeted this morning, there’s no-one in the country who would like this inquiry to happen more than her.”
Mr Yusuf later added it was “important that nobody should be immune for being brought before that inquiry and forced to testify under it”.
Mr Farage had earlier said he wanted the proposed inquiry to uncover whether the rise in migration over the period was “just sheer incompetence, or was it done willfully”.
He had defended Mrs Braverman and Mr Jenrick’s record in government, telling reporters: “Of course, there are some that will say, ‘Ah, but you’ve got Suella Braverman, you’ve got Robert Jenrick in your party’.
“Yes, absolutely. And if you read what Suella has written on this, and you read what Robert has written on this, they tried from within to stop the disaster that really started properly in 2021 and that’s why they resigned or were fired.”
Responding to Reform’s plans, senior Conservative Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “We look forward to Reform explaining when their new converts will be hauled into the dock to explain the Suella surge and the Jenrick jump.
“The Conservatives are under new leadership and setting out clear plans to drastically reduce legal immigration. Reform are busy stuffing their ranks with has-been former politicians whilst pretending they represent change.”
Elsewhere, Labour questioned why Mr Farage had purchased £2 million in Bitcoin for a cryptocurrency firm run by Kwasi Kwarteng, the former Conservative chancellor best known for having overseen Liz Truss’ mini budget, widely seen as disastrous.
Anna Turley, the Labour chairwoman, said: “Nigel Farage is hyping up a former Tory chancellor who crashed the economy, in a bid to line his own pockets.
“From Farage’s crypto-boosting to his deputy Richard Tice’s admission that his business didn’t pay the taxes it owed, Reform are more interested in themselves than in standing up for working people.
“While Labour is working to clear up the mess the Tories left, Nigel Farage is cosying up to the architect of Liz Truss’s catastrophic mini-budget. It tells you everything you need to know about whose side he’s on.”
In early March, it was reported that Mr Farage had taken a £215,000 stake in the company, Stack BTC.
The Liberal Democrats went further, and wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority calling for an investigation into Mr Farage’s decision to buy £2 million worth of Bitcoin.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This raises real concerns that Nigel Farage could be using the Donald Trump playbook to put his own financial interests above the public good, potentially luring people into high-risk schemes for his own gain.
“The FCA must investigate whether Farage’s plans to cash in on crypto could potentially amount to market abuse and a conflict of interest.
“We cannot allow political leaders to treat the financial markets like a personal piggy bank to line their own pockets.”
