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Reform's Zia Yusuf threatens to sack civil servants and strip them of pensions if they 'sabotage' any future Reform government

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Reform UK home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.
Reform UK home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf appeared to threaten civil servants with the sack should they stand in the way of a Reform government. Picture: Alamy

By Alex Storey

Reform UK's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf has appeared to threaten civil servants with the sack if they stand in th party's way should they get into government.

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The claim was made on X in which Mr Yusuf was responding to a news headline which reported Whitehall officials could be set to strike if Reform get into power.

He wrote: "Good luck to them. Our legislation will mean they’ll lose their jobs and their employer pensions if they do this.

"And save the taxpayer huge sums in redundancy pay! Everyone wins!"

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Mr Zia Yusuf and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Mr Zia Yusuf and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Picture: Alamy

Mr Yusuf was reacting to a Mail Online report which detailed that the largest trade union for civil servants, the PCS, which has 170,000 members will vote this week on a motion calling for an "industrial defence strategy", to sabotage a Nigel Farage administration.

The motion states workers were ready to strike with minimal notice in the event of a Reform government.

The motion being debated at the annual conference of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) suggests that Mr Farage would be embroiled in an all-out war with Whitehall if he becomes Prime Minister.

It also states that "a Reform UK government would represent an existential threat to the job security, pay, and professional integrity of every PCS member".

It will also include the "launching of a targeted recruitment drive in departments most at risk of slashing, ensuring we have the mandate for sustained industrial action".

The Mail reported that delegates at the annual conference of the National Education Union (NEU) called for the trade union movement to "throw its full weight behind stopping a Reform UK government".

It also called for teachers to "collate and disseminate anti-racist teaching materials' and to 'encourage school and community-based anti-deportation campaigns".

Mr Farage has previously vowed to sweep away "politicised classrooms" if he becomes the next Prime Minister.

He hit out at Daniel Kebede, the union's general secretary, saying: "The NEU should focus on the day job of teaching instead of trying to indoctrinate children.

"Daniel Kebede is an open Marxist and shouldn't be anywhere near our education system.

"Change is coming for the NEU – a Reform government will introduce a patriotic curriculum, no longer will teaching unions be able to politicise the classroom and talk down our country."

LBC has contacted Reform and the PCS for comment.