Ben Habib on why he quit the Reform Party

Transcript

00:00I discovered over the last few days that actually HQ at Reform has forbidden the new branches they've

00:08set up from having me speak to them. I don't know why, because at every meeting that I've been to

00:14I have done nothing other than bang the drum of our message and bang the drum of the party,

00:19but it seems these criticisms that I have, ideological as well as constitutional criticisms

00:25I have of the party, are an affront to them. So they have shut me down from speaking to the very

00:34people whom I galvanised into a movement alongside Richard and others, whom I galvanised into a

00:39movement, and I find that frankly unacceptable. And I would say I'm resigning as a member of

00:46Reform. I can't resign as a member of Reform because I'm not a member. No one's a member.

00:51The only members are Richard and Nigel. But I think that their prohibition on my speaking,

00:58their prohibition on my free speech, their reluctance to democratise, their ideological

01:04differences with me, now leaves me no option but to say I'm not affiliated with Reform, I'm afraid.

01:10I am ideologically separate from Reform. They're not treading the path that I think needs to be

01:18trodden, and I fear for their fascination with recruiting Tories, and I fear for their

01:25reluctance to democratise and really trust the movement that we created. And so very sadly,

01:31I am no longer a part of the movement. Sorry, I'm a part of the movement. I'm no longer part of

01:39Reform UK, whatever that means, because as I say, you can't actually be a member.

01:43Thank you for listening, and I'm sorry to deliver what I suspect might be bad news to some of you.