LONDON: Pakistani-born leader of far-right Reform UK party Ben Habib has denied that his party is full of racists, Islamophobes and far-right elements who hate Muslims, immigrants and people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Reform UK has surged in the polls in recent weeks and could come second or third in vote share on July 4 as its ranks swell with voters who once supported the Conservatives but are now drifting away.
Deputy leader of the far-right party, Habib, spoke with Geo news in Northampton, where he is standing as a Reform UK candidate for the July 4 election.
He said: “I am the greatest example of what Reform UK is all about, I am proud of my Pakistani heritage, my father is Pakistani and my mother is English. I love my identity and I am one of the leaders of Reform UK. It cannot be a racist party. I reject the claim that we are a far-right party.”
The billionaire tycoon, whose full name is Benyamin Habib, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the right-wing Reform UK party, which opposes immigration to the U.K., hates multiculturalism and whose leader, Nigel Farage, has been outspoken against Muslims. One of the party's key leaders was caught last week racially abusing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Habib came to the UK from Karachi about 50 years ago to study at a boarding school for rich children. His parents sent him to a private school in the UK to give him a better chance in life. He went into the property business after completing his education and became a millionaire. He lives in the Fulham area of London and often visits Karachi to meet up with friends and family.
He said Geo news“We are not racist or Islamophobic. We are British citizens. We want to put the UK and its citizens first. We are not against immigrants, but we are against the rampant immigration we have had in recent decades. This has wrecked our system, our National Health System, housing and our labour market. We want immigration to be radically reduced. We want a culture where everyone lives in harmony and where everyone is equal, no matter if you are from Pakistan, India or Africa.”
Far-right parties Tommy Robinson, Britain First, Patriotic Alternative and Homeland have all urged their supporters to vote for Farage's Reform Party.
Reform UK's rise in the polls in recent days has dominated media debates. Reform leader Farage now looks certain to win in the Clacton constituency, while polls seem to indicate the party could be on course to win several seats and also seems certain to cause the Conservatives to lose many seats.
Habib defended his leader Farage and said: Geo news that Farage had only spoken out against “extremist Muslims” and not ordinary Muslims.
He said: “He is only against extremists. He thinks there are extremists in the country and he is worried about them.”
He added: “We have imported cheap, unskilled labour, which has undermined wage growth, and on top of that we have high taxes. It has become impossible to earn a living wage. There are six million people in this country on welfare, or 20% of the workforce. These six million are on welfare because of low wages and high taxes, which makes it impossible to earn a reasonable take-home pay. Cheap imported labour is just one factor among others.”
Habib used to donate money to the Conservatives but stopped because he thinks they are “broken and do not stand up for British values. They have destroyed this country because of their lust for power. I cannot continue to give money to a party like that.”
He also said that his father lives with him. When asked what his father and his Pakistani relatives asked him about supporting a right-wing party like Reform UK, he said they kept asking him the same questions as Geo “I give them the same answers. There is a lot of fake news about Reform UK. I am not racist. I am proud of my Pakistani heritage and I am a proud British citizen.”
During his visits to Pakistan, he said he saw the entire nation waving Pakistani flags on its national days. “It is one flag across the country and people celebrate it. That's great. Why don't we celebrate the Union flag here? What are we ashamed of?
He also said it was important to expose and destroy the Conservative Party.
The reform has been dogged by accusations of racism, misogyny, homophobia and support for Hitler and Putin, but a recent poll puts them three points ahead of the conservatives.
The Whitestone poll for Reach plc put the Reform Party on 21%, the Conservatives on just 18%, with Labour holding a clear lead on 38%. According to Electoral Calculus, in a general election this would leave the Conservatives with just 50 seats, the Reform Party on 29, but the Lib Dems the official opposition on 74 seats.
