Reform UK hit out at a local council over claims it is spending taxpayers’ money on TV licences for asylum seekers. Zia Yusuf said Kent County Council was covering the £174.50 fee for migrants.

The former Reform chairman is heading up the insurgent party’s Doge initiative to drive down local public spending based on the US’s Department of Government Efficiency. He wrote on X: “Kent County Council is using taxpayer money to pay for TV licences for asylum seekers. Remember that next time you are asked to pay for yours.”

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Reform MP Lee Anderson added: “Isn’t this just lovely? You couldn’t make this up.”

In another post on X, Mr Yusuf claimed the town hall has been funding activities and trips for asylum seekers, such as trampolining, skateboarding, bowling, crazy golf and cinema trips.

He said in a video: “At Reform, we speak to so many of you who tell us you can’t afford to take your family out on trips.

“You set your alarm in the morning, you work hard all day, the cost of your weekly shop keeps going up, your energy bills keep going up and your taxes keep going up.

“We hear from you that you can barely find the money or time to enjoy trips bowling or to the cinema or indeed trampolining. So why is your taxpayer money being spent on such things? The answer, of course, is it should not.

“The social contract in this country is fraying at the edges and it’s time someone stood up and fought for taxpayers.

“It’s time to put British people first and that’s exactly what Reform are doing.”

Kent County Council is one of 10 town halls that Nigel Farage’s party controls after last month’s local elections.

It is the first local authority where Reform started rolling out its Doge plans.

Kent County Council has been contacted for comment.