Why is Reform threatening to jail the boss of Vodafone?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
This is a Global Production.

**Lewis Goodall** (0:05)
Zia Yusuf, one of the more fevered members of the Reform Front Bench, is threatening the board of Czechsnotes Vodafone with jail time.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:14)
Under a Reform government, if Vodafone do this sort of thing, the board of directors are going to jail.

**Lewis Goodall** (0:20)
Chilling stuff. It's pretty sinister. What he does is to go from stage one, all the way through to stage 10 in one tweet.

**Jon Sopel** (0:29)
He is almost an addict to the likes and the clicks and the reposts, but I don't know whether it drives political success.

**Lewis Goodall** (0:37)
Honestly, stop tweeting. Zia, you're going to have a better week. You will have a better week if you just stop tweeting just for seven days.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:43)
Vodafone is aiding and abetting the invasion of Britain. They have handed thousands of free SIM cards to illegal migrants in Calais, knowing that they were about to break into Britain. They even added six months of free data for them, in case their free taxpayer-funded hotel isn't enough.
I've written to the CEO of Vodafone demanding they end this disgusting practice immediately. I told her and the whole board of Vodafone that a reformed government will immediately make aiding and abetting illegal entry into the UK a strict liability criminal offence. Now that means prosecutors won't have to prove intent, only that they took the action. Put another way under a reformed government, if Vodafone do this sort of thing, the board of directors are going to jail.

**Lewis Goodall** (1:35)
That is Reform's shadow Home Secretary or Home Affairs Spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, accusing Vodafone of actively assisting illegal migrants in France in their efforts to break into Britain via being given free SIM cards. And as you heard, threatening them with jail time.

**Jon Sopel** (1:57)
This comes after Zia Yusuf called a former Conservative Defence Secretary a traitor.

**Lewis Goodall** (2:03)
Is this good politics?

**Jon Sopel** (2:05)
Or is Zia Yusuf getting slightly mad? Welcome to The News Agents.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:15)
The News Agents.

**Jon Sopel** (2:16)
It's Jon.

**Lewis Goodall** (2:17)
It's Lewis. And this is the second time this week that we have found ourselves talking about Zia Yusuf, who, for those of you who didn't listen to our episode on Tuesday or aren't familiar with him, this is a guy who used to be the Reform Chairman.
He has been hailed multiple times as a rising star of the Reform movement. He's a young guy, made a lot of money in business, a lot of money in the city, a lot of money in America, has been very, very successful. And then made this transition to politics where he has become, I think it's fair to say one of the more fevered members of the Reform front bench, even though he's not actually a member of parliament. Jon said earlier this week he got in trouble and received what Nigel Farage said was a ticking off for accusing the former Conservative defence secretary, Ben Wallace, of being a traitor to his country, despite the fact that Ben Wallace is a former serviceman himself in the Scots Brads, served in the Northern Ireland, served in uniform, accused him of being a traitor because he dared, had the temerity to criticise one of Reform's policies on illegal migration. And now today, only two days later, is threatening the board of Czechsnotes Vodafone, one of our biggest telecoms companies, with jail time because he says there are over 2,200 Vodafone SIM cards which have been given by Vodafone to the charity Care for Calais. Care for Calais is a charity which operates in Northern France, giving humanitarian assistance and aid to those trying to make the transition. Yusuf is saying that this scheme that Vodafone have set up, which includes these 2,200 SIM cards, ending up potentially with ending up with Care for Calais, which may themselves end up in the pockets in the phones of migrants. He's saying that is enough to constitute aiding and abetting their illegal entry into Britain, and therefore under a reform government would face jail.

**Jon Sopel** (4:20)
I mean, it sounds almost facetious to say this, but if you could make a case that you can turn SIM cards into rubber dinghies and that they can climb aboard them, I can see how you make the case that it is aiding and abetting.
What about people who give refugees food? Because surely if we starved them to death, then they wouldn't be able to get on boats.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:43)
Don't get my ideas, Jon.

**Jon Sopel** (4:44)
That's the next press announcement. Therefore, maybe you are aiding and abetting people who are refugees by feeding them, by giving them food, which is what other people do.