Awkward! How the new chairman of Reform UK called party leader Nigel Farage 'an idiot' and branded his comments about HIV-infected migrants using the NHS 'prejudiced'
Reform UK's new chairman once called leader Nigel Farage an 'idiot', it emerged last night.
Dr David Bull, who was unveiled as Zia Yusuf's replacement, also branded as 'prejudiced' comments that Mr Farage had made about HIV-infected migrants using the NHS.
The remarks surfaced just hours after Dr Bull gave his maiden speech as chairman and threatened to overshadow his appointment, while at a Press conference unveiling the new chairman, Mr Farage unexpectedly ruled out putting the return of the death penalty on Reform's manifesto at the next general election.
Dr Bull's comments, first reported by The Daily Telegraph, were made on social media in 2014. He posted them after Mr Farage, then leader of his previous party UKIP, suggested that HIV-positive immigrants should not be allowed to come to the UK and receive treatment on the NHS.
He said it should not be used as a 'global health service', adding: 'I do not think people with life-threatening diseases should be treated by our National Health Service, and that is an absolute essential condition for working out a proper immigration policy.'
Sharing an article about Mr Farage's comments, Dr Bull wrote on X/ Twitter: 'Nigel Farage's comments are ill-judged, prejudiced and dangerous. HIV can affect anyone regardless of sex, race and class.' In the post, still visible online, he added: '#idiot #unhelpful.'
Dr Bull, 56, is a long-time ally of Mr Farage and has held roles in both Reform and its former iteration, the Brexit Party. He served as an MEP for North West England between 2019 and 2020.
Mr Farage said that Dr Bull would bring 'terrific verve, energy, enthusiasm' to his new role.
Mr Yusuf plunged the party into turmoil on Thursday after announcing his shock resignation on social media, giving Mr Farage only ten minutes' notice. He said he was quitting after attacking one of his own MPs, Sarah Pochin, for calling for a burka ban during Prime Minister's Questions.
But just 48 hours after leaving, he said he was returning to the party. The 38-year-old businessman said his resignation had been 'born of exhaustion' after working for the party for 11 months 'without a day off'.
He will now lead Reform's Elon Musk-inspired Doge unit, which the party says will root out wasteful spending in the ten councils it controls, starting in Kent.
The decision not to include anything in Reform's manifesto about the death penalty will likely disappoint millions of its voters. A poll by the think-tank More In Common in January found nearly eight in ten of its backers support it 'for certain crimes'.
Mr Farage said 'nothing on the death penalty will be part of [Reform] party policy' and that 'personally I don't think I could ever support it'.
He said he was opposed because of hundreds of 'quite serious miscarriages of justice' having emerged since the 70s, adding that he believed it will become a big national issue because of polling suggesting younger generations are increasingly in favour.
It may lead to suspicions that Mr Farage is trying to make Reform UK appear less Right-wing and controversial as it increasingly tries to target Labour voters.
It also emerged that Reform lost nearly 3,500 members in the past week amid the Yusuf fiasco.
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