Zia Yusuf was still talking when Good Morning Britain faded down his microphone and ended the interview.
The Reform UK home affairs spokesperson had been given several opportunities to explain a post about Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali. Instead, he repeatedly moved the conversation towards immigration statistics and the actions of other MPs.
Political editor Ranvir Singh eventually decided that viewers had heard enough.
“You had your chance to respond to the tweet but you chose to deflect by talking about another issue,” she told him before the programme cut away.
The abrupt ending has been widely praised as an example of how broadcasters should handle politicians who repeatedly avoid a direct question. Critics of GMB, meanwhile, accused Singh and Kate Garraway of interrupting Yusuf and ending the interview because they disliked his answer.
The problem for Yusuf is that the presenters were not asking for his wider views on immigration. They were asking him to explain his own words.
The tweet Yusuf was asked to explain
Yusuf appeared on Friday’s programme following reports that 781 people had crossed the Channel in ten boats on Wednesday.
Singh also raised a post Yusuf published earlier in September about Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council and Labour’s candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
Yusuf had described her as being “foisted” on local voters before highlighting that she “was born in Somalia” and asking: “Do you understand what’s happening?”
The post did not mention her policies, record in local government or suitability for Parliament. Its only stated objection was the country in which she was born.
Abdi-Wali arrived in Britain as a child refugee and has lived in Camden for approximately 35 years. She was elected to the council in 2022, became its leader in May and was subsequently selected by Labour members to contest Sir Keir Starmer’s former parliamentary seat.
Singh told Yusuf the post had been widely condemned as racist and offered him the opportunity to explain it.
Yusuf rejected the accusation as “absurd on its face”. He argued that legitimate concerns raised by British people were being dismissed through name-calling.
But that still did not explain what his post meant.
The Nadhim Zahawi question
Singh tested Yusuf’s argument by raising Nadhim Zahawi, his Reform UK colleague and a former Conservative chancellor.
Zahawi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, before arriving in Britain as a child.
Was Yusuf arguing that Zahawi should not be allowed to participate in British politics because he was born abroad?
Yusuf did not answer directly.
He instead asked whether Singh was aware that Britain had more foreign-born residents and parliamentarians than at any previous point in its modern history.
Yusuf then clarified that somebody born overseas could still be patriotic and serve the country. That clarification appeared to undermine the implication behind his original post: if a foreign-born person can legitimately serve in Parliament, why was Abdi-Wali’s birthplace presented as something alarming?
Singh told him: “That isn’t what you said, that’s a deflection.”
Garraway tried again.
“Could you explain your tweet, please, so that we all understand it?” she asked.
Yusuf changes the subject to Pakistan
Yusuf moved on to a letter signed by British MPs of Pakistani heritage concerning an airport in Mirpur.
He said voters were entitled to question why their representatives were lobbying over an airport outside the United Kingdom.
That may be a legitimate subject for scrutiny, but it was not what Yusuf had written about Abdi-Wali. His post did not accuse her of lobbying a foreign government, prioritising another country or taking any questionable political position.
It merely identified her Somali birthplace and invited readers to decide what it signified.
Garraway again asked Yusuf to explain that specific post.
He said he would not be bullied or “tone policed” for raising concerns shared by millions of British people. He then began repeating his argument about the number of foreign nationals living in Britain.
Singh stopped him.
“We don’t want a repeat of the same answer,” she said as his sound was faded down.
The screen then switched to the full list of candidates contesting the Holborn and St Pancras by-election while Yusuf continued speaking unheard.
Viewers divided over the interview
The moment GMB faded down Yusuf’s microphone quickly spread across social media.
@LloydGeorge57 wrote:
“The way they faded him out, glorious. We need to see more of this. 😆”
@donmcgowan said:
“Hats off to @GMB for being the ones to finally shut Zia Yusuf up.
“Faded out because his robotic racism is unrelenting.
“How this guy is even booked for media beggars belief.”
@Bushra1Shaikh offered a shorter verdict:
“My God he’s insufferable.”
@Zero_4 said other broadcasters should take note:
“That point where they cut him off, unwilling to hear the same non-answer for a second time is chef’s kiss.
“Watch and learn, UK media.”
@Spinner59 wrote:
“Just stop giving the twat air time if that’s how he responds.”
And @bestcanton7 argued that Yusuf’s repeated deflection exposed the weakness of his position:
“It’s from the Trumpian playbook. Th
“Well done to the @GMB presenters. The reason why @ZiaYusufUK isn’t answering the question is because he can’t. He just deflects.
Reform figures also criticised the post
The criticism did not come only from Labour politicians or television presenters.
Nadine Dorries described Yusuf’s message as “nasty” and said she wished he would close his X account.
Laila Cunningham, Reform’s London mayoral candidate and the daughter of Egyptian immigrants, said she had read the post several times without understanding what Yusuf meant. She pointed out that Abdi-Wali was British and already led Camden Council.
Lee Anderson also declined to defend Yusuf when questioned at Reform’s conference, saying it was for his colleague to explain his own words.
That was exactly what GMB invited him to do.
Yusuf instead argued that foreign-born MPs were becoming more common, said politicians were wrong to dismiss public concern and introduced an entirely separate dispute involving Pakistan.
Those may all be subjects he wants to debate. None explains why the birthplace of a British woman who has lived in Camden for 35 years was presented as a warning.
After several attempts, GMB stopped asking.
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