Top Conservative and Reform politicians filmed having furious public row

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"Reform MPs Jenrick and Braverman (currently spending her time handcuffed to Katie Price) were part of the failure. They are not a serious party and have no serious plans for…

Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and his Reform opposite number, Zia Yusuf, took part in a furious public row as they debated who is to blame for the UK's asylum crisis. It was meant to be a public show of support for the people of Piddington in their battle against Labour’s plans to house 1,200 asylum seekers nearby.

But Mr Philp and Mr Yusuf ended up squabbling as bemused villagers looked on. Both men made the journey to Oxfordshire and appeared happy to share a microphone in front of Piddington’s village hall. However, instead of attacking Labour for moving asylum seekers into the area, Mr Yusuf offered a history lesson and tried to shift the blame onto former Tory administrations. Asylum seekers “would not be being dumped into this beautiful village were it not for the actions of the Conservative government,” he declared.

Landing what was clearly meant to be a killer blow, he asked his Tory rival: “Are you going to take the opportunity to apologise to the people of Piddington and to the country?”

But Mr Philp hit back, saying: “I hope today, rather than engage in point-scoring, we can stand in solidarity. We can stand in solidarity with the residents...”

This earned him a round of applause from the assembled villagers. Mr Yusuf explained that he was just trying to hold the previous government accountable, but the Shadow Home Secretary talked over him, insisting: “Read the room, Zia! Read the room!”

Mr Philp had somehow clambered onto the moral high ground, and there was no dislodging him now.

In a comment afterwards, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: "The real Shadow Home Secretary won that exchange and the applause. The fake one went along to score cheap points but made an a*** of himself instead.

"Reform MPs Jenrick and Braverman (currently spending her time handcuffed to Katie Price) were part of the failure. They are not a serious party and have no serious plans for government.

"Conservatives are different from Reform.

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