I'm not British Born Mr @Nigel_Farage I am as British as u r. Yr comments r offensive&racist. I wld be frightened 2live in country run by U Zahawi in a 2015 tweet, which was only deleted on Monday as he announced his defection to Reform UK. The tweet appears to have been in response to a broadcast interview in 2015 in which Farage was asked if he was in favour of keeping laws that ban employment discrimination on the grounds of race or colour.
Defections always pose a messaging dilemma for political parties. Heap too much ordure on the turncoat, and you invite the question of why you were happy to share a tent with them in the first place; praise them too highly, and you exacerbate whatever damage the defection is doing to you. In the Conservatives' case, this problem is compounded for journalists by the hyperinflation in key posts.