Martin Shipton
A Reform UK MS was happy to be interviewed by a far-right journalist who mocked Andy Burnham’s late father because he suffered from dementia.
Yet like her party colleagues at the Senedd, Cristina Emsley, a Romanian-born migrant, refuses to engage with Welsh news outlets including Nation.Cymru.
Ms Emsley, who represents Fflint Wrecsam, appeared on Mike Graham’s YouTube show, where she claimed that Plaid Cymru was obsessed with independence because it supports the devolution of policing and the criminal justice system.
The Prime Minister’s father, Roy, died from Alzheimer’s disease last month, with the Labour leader cancelling all engagements for two days.
Mr Burnham spoke openly about Roy’s condition, including how his father, who was living in a care home, was unaware that his son had been appointed to Number 10.
Roy, in his mid-80s, was also a key motivator for Mr Burnham politically, driving his aim to reform the social care system.
The Burnham family held his funeral on the same day Graham sparked outrage with so-called jokes about Roy’s illness.
Speaking on a panel at an event, with footage later posted on Graham’s YouTube channel, the journalist began by quoting a post from Mr Burnham, reading: “I will build the Britain my dad wanted to see.”
Shrugging and pulling a confused face, Graham then said: “His dad doesn’t even know who he is! He died. He didn’t even recognise his own son.
“So what fucking Britain did he want? Why would you ask a bloke with Alzheimer’s, ‘What sort of Britain do you want?’”
Acting confused and disoriented, Graham mocked Roy’s response as being along the lines of: “Uh, I don’t know!”
Graham then read out his original reply to Mr Burnham’s social media post, which was: “Who fucking cares what his dad wanted?”
Graham has been involved in a number of scandals during his broadcasting career.
In April 2020, he was criticised for referring to Celtic FC as “the paedo’s football club” on Twitter, while engaging in a spat with a user of the social networking platform.
In October 2021, Graham was accused of disparaging Cameron Ford, a carpenter, climate change activist and Insulate Britain spokesperson, over his use of timber as a building material during an interview on his show.
Graham suggested it was hypocritical for an environmentalist to work with timber since it requires the felling of trees. When the guest responded that timber is a sustainable building material because, unlike the concrete alternative, trees can be regrown, Graham claimed it was equally possible to “grow concrete”.
After a few seconds of silence following the remark, Graham abruptly terminated the interview. His comment was ridiculed online.
False claim
In July 2022, Graham made a false claim that Mind, the UK mental health charity, had been funding the legal fees of individuals seeking asylum in the UK; TalkTV later issued a public apology.
In June 2023, TalkTV issued an apology and paid “substantial damages” to the charity Migrants Organise following defamatory claims made on Graham’s show describing the organisation as “human traffickers”.
In October 2025, Graham was suspended from his TalkRadio show Morning Glory after a post containing racist language referring to multiculturalism and non-white people was made on his Facebook account.
Graham denied making the post, stating that it had been made by a hacker who had accessed his account without his permission. He said: “As soon as I found out, I immediately deleted the post and have taken steps to ensure my cyber security is enhanced.”
Dismissal
In a statement made on November 12, 2025, News UK announced Graham’s dismissal from TalkRadio. It said that despite initially agreeing to cooperate with a company investigation, he “reneged on several opportunities to cooperate with the company investigation”.
Before his radio career, Graham was a Fleet Street journalist for 25 years. He edited the Scottish Daily Mirror and was assistant editor of the Daily Express.
We emailed Ms Emsley, stating: “We note that you have been interviewed by the journalist Mike Graham, who was recently strongly condemned for telling a vile joke about Andy Burnham’s late father:
“Can you explain why you were prepared to be interviewed by Graham, when you and your fellow Reform UK MSs have a blanket ban on engaging with some Welsh news outlets, including Nation.Cymru?
“Do you approve of the joke Graham told about Andy Burnham’s father?”
Ms Emsley did not respond.
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