'Some of those most exercised about illegal migration are legal migrants', says Reform UK's Zia Yusuf - as he warns Britain is becoming 'a dystopian place of social unrest'
The multi-millionaire businessman, one of the leading figures in Nigel Farage 's party, said anger about people entering the UK illegally via small boats is due to a sense of 'fairness'.
'It's not about good or bad [migrants] per se, it's about the sort of people who come here, and it's about numbers,' Mr Yusuf, the son of Sri Lankan parents, told the Financial Times.
'Some of the people who are most exercised about what is going on with illegal migration are legal migrants.'
He added: 'It's about fairness... they had to go through a process, they had to wait.'
A year on from an outbreak of rioting across Britain, in the wake of the Southport murders, Mr Yusuf issued a dire warning about the current state of the UK.
'Britain is trending to a dystopian place of social unrest and sectarian violence... foreigners are basically invading the country,' he said.
'Nigel used the word 'invasion' for a long time and got a huge amount of stick but... north of 160,000 men arriving on our beaches, the majority of them fighting-age men, I don't know what else you call that.'
Last summer's violence followed false rumours spread online that the Southport suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat.
Hotels housing asylum seekers were among the targets which saw protests and disorder.
There have also been demonstrations outside hotels housing asylum seekers this summer, including multiple protests in Epping.
But Mr Yusuf denied that Reform is provoking violent disorder by stoking public anger about migration, following fierce criticism of Mr Farage's comments after the Southport murders.
'The argument that flagging the problems is responsible for people reacting negatively to the problem is bogus,' he added.
'All that Reform has done is emphasise the problems that actually exist.'
Mr Yusuf is currently leading Reform's efforts to cut public spending across councils, following the party's local elections success in May.
His work is based on the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) set up by Tesla boss Elon Musk in the US.
Mr Yusuf is not among Reform's five MPs in the House of Commons, but is open to standing in a parliamentary by-election for the party.
He is also eyeing a future role as Chancellor, should Reform win the next general election.
'I've started a business from scratch, I know what it takes to create value, I've worked in financial markets at top-tier investment banks,' he said.
'Chancellor is something I think would be of value.'
Mr Yusuf remains one of the party's key figures despite his dramatic resignation as Reform's chairman in June.
The 38-year-old quit the role - and briefly the party - following a row over banning the burqa.
He described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas - which are worn by some Muslim women - from his party's newest MP as 'dumb'.
But Mr Yusuf, who is Muslim himself, later backtracked on leaving the party and said his decision to stand down had been the result of 'exhaustion'.
He claimed to have been working for 11 months as Reform chairman 'without a day off'.
David Bull has since succeeded Mr Yusuf as party chairman.
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