Reform UK's Zia Yusuf has accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of spreading "disinformation" and doing "anything to get elected" during a heated appearance on GB News on Monday (12 October). The comments came after Burnham claimed Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum via social media disinformation.
Yusuf demands evidence over Russia claims
"Well, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, but Andy Burnham has provided not a shred of evidence," Yusuf said. He then pointed to Burnham's own election in Makerfield as an example of confirmed disinformation.
"Mr Burnham himself injected serious disinformation into that campaign because he made a promise to the people of Makerfield, who voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, that he would not relitigate the argument about Brexit, that he would not re-run Brexit arguments; that's a direct quote from him. That he would not try to take Britain back into the European Union."
U-turn within months of winning
Yusuf argued that Burnham had already broken that promise, saying: "Within months of winning that election in Makerfield and making himself the prime minister on that premise, he is already U-turning on that. And that is in the public domain; we have clear evidence for that. More people voted for Brexit in this country than have voted for anything in the history of this country in a single election."
"For him to be doing this now, I think, is really awful, but it's why people have such a dim view of career politicians. They will say and do anything to get elected," he added.
Viewers react on X
Following Yusuf's comments, GB News viewers reacted on X. "Always believe the opposite of anything that comes out of Andy Burnham's mouth," replied one. "People of Makerfield should sack him and have a new election," suggested a second. Meanwhile, a third quipped, "I think that's just the status quo for the Labour politicians. U-turns, backtracking, reversals, any lie to get them in power, then anything to do the opposite."
Burnham's Russia claims were made on Monday's episode of the Rest is Politics podcast, where he revealed he had requested an assessment of the Kremlin's role after becoming prime minister in July. "I've had the clear answer that, yes, there was," he said. "These things are important now to put clearly on the record, and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely, Russia."
He continued: "I think we've been too much on the back foot on that actually, and we haven't informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas."
