REFORM UK Chairman Dr David Bull has defended accusations that his party is a “retirement home for failed politicians”.
Speaking on GB News Dr David Bull said: “Since I took over as chairman, I am professionalising the party. We have gone from 90,000 members to 271,000 members. As you know, we are strengthening the team. We now have 450 branches around the country.
“And the point is that we want the best and the brightest in terms of defections. We have five members of Parliament. We are taking people from across the political spectrum, as long as you subscribe to our values and that you understand the mission that we’re in, and Nadhim is a fantastic addition to that.
“One of the accusations which has been levelled at us, and I think it is fair, actually, whilst we have brilliant people with great experience in many different walks of life, [is] do we have experience of running the country and being in government? And the answer to that is ‘no’.
“And that’s the reason why, actually the defection of Danny Kruger is so important in terms of preparing for government. And that’s why actually Nadhim coming over is absolutely brilliant.
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“So as we go into the next phase of what we’re doing, and of course, May 7th is going to be very important in terms of Wales and Scotland, and actually the elections in London as well, we have to prove that we’re competent, not only just running local councils, but we’re actually going to be competent in government as well.
“What we have to do is defeat the blob, make sure the civil service works for the elected politicians, people like Nadhim will be absolutely brilliant at that.
“Remember, he’s an absolutely fantastic businessman. He set up YouGov so he knows what he’s talking about. He was Chancellor. This is a man who knows how politics work, and he will strengthen our team going forward.
“It’s okay to have ideas and to actually throw them around. [The immigration amnesty] was rejected, and it was a long time ago. In terms of those tweets, though, that was 2015, we were in the middle of an election, and people say things because they’re tribal politicians.
“But just in terms of the vaccine rollout, I just want to be very clear about this. Nadhim was tasked with rolling out the vaccine. It was a logistical exercise, and he did it with aplomb.
“And the reason that vaccine rollout works so efficiently and well, is because we had left the European Union. If we had not done that, we would not have been able to roll that vaccine now.
“Now actually, in terms of looking at who should be vaccinated, that is an entirely different question, and that was down to Valance and [Chris] Whitty, and those people that made those decisions, and I would argue that actually they got those calls wrong.
“But actually, what Nadhim Zahawi did, I think, is admirable, what he did, he was tasked to roll out that vaccine, and he did it very well indeed.
“It’s okay to change your mind, and the fact is that we will only take people who subscribe to our values and our policies and Nigel made that very clear indeed.
“Nadhim said today at the press conference this is the last chance saloon to save the United Kingdom and I actually believe that passionately, because I didn’t need to do this job.
“I am doing this job because I do believe it’s important, and I can see the mess the country is in. The fact is, Keir Starmer has no ideology, no idea. He’s out of time, out of his depth and he should be out of office.
“It’s my biggest worry that we don’t turn into the Tory party 2.0. In fact, I’ve just done a training exercise; I trained 200 candidates over the weekend. Many of those are former Labour voters, or indeed, they’ve worked for the Labour Party, who have also come across.
“So we are taking people from across the political spectrum, and that’s really important to me. But I have said to Nigel, we are very mindful we do not turn into the Tory party 2.0; you have to subscribe to the values.
“You have to believe that we can be a strong, independent country, free from the European Union.
“The whole point is we’re keeping our cards dry but there are many people coming across at local level, at councillor level, who are former Labour members who are already joining this party.
“But we are turning people down as well because we’re in a really strong position.
“This is not a retirement home for failed politicians. This is a party on the rise, on the ascendancy.”
