Nigel Farage has unveiled Reform UK’s plans for “mass deportations” and a dismantling of the so-called human rights codes that facilitate the “crisis” of illegal immigration.
The Brexit boss and current favourite to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage, said that his government would enact a policy of “detain and deport” rather than allowing mostly military age illegal migrant males to claim asylum and be housed at taxpayer expense.
The “Operation Restoring Justice” blueprint, which is set to be published in full on Tuesday, would begin with scrapping the Tony Blair-era Human Rights Act and withdrawing Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights and its associated court in Strasbourg, which the UK remains bound by despite Brexit as it is technically a seperate institution from the European Union, even though it shares the same campus, flag, anthem, and general ethos.
Both the HRA and ECHR have been instrumental in preventing numerous deportations from Britain, with critics claiming that the left-wing UK judiciary uses such rules to prioritise foreigners — including heinous violent criminals — over the safety of the native population.
Rather than empowering open-borders advocates, the Reform plan would impose on the Home Secretary — the cabinet official tasked with controlling Britain’s borders — a statutory requirement to deport those illegally in the country. Mr Farage said that this would lead to the removal of hundreds of thousands of aliens, saying that five charter flights would remove illegal immigrants per day, the Times of London reported.
A Farage government would also enact emergency legislation, the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill, which would bar all illegal migrants from claiming asylum. Rather than being housed in hotels and homes, those who break into the country would instead be detained in minimalistic pre-fab centres to be constructed on surplus Royal Air Force bases. They would also be prevented from leaving the area or from claiming bail. Additionally, Reform plans to make it a criminal offence to enter the country without documents or to re-enter after deportation.
“We have a massive crisis in Britain,” Mr Farage said. “It is not only posing a national security threat but it’s leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder. There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”
The Reform leader, whose party has held a commanding lead in the polls for months, said that a Reform government would also seek to ink deals with migrant hot spots such as Eritrea and Afghanistan to facilitate swift returns of boat migrants.
“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world,” he said. “Who is our priority? Is it the safety and security of this country and its people? Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to. Whose side are you on?”
Additionally, Reform would seek to make agreements with countries like Rwanda and Albania to hold supposed asylum seekers in a similar model to the El Salvador scheme enacted by the Trump administration in the United States. Farage said that Ascension Island, a UK territory halfway between Africa and South America, could be used as a backup location.
On top of forceful removals, the party would also enact a scheme for self-deportations, including the creation of a tracking app and £2,500 payments to those who willingly leave the country on their own.
Reform estimated that the plans would cost around £10 billion over a five-year period, which the party said was roughly the same expenditure percentage as in the United States. Farage also noted that it would pale in comparison to the billions spent every year on migrant hotels and other asylum-associated costs.
The party said that the spending would include £2 billion to construct migrant detention centres, £2 billion to detain the illegals, £1.5 billion on staffing, £1.5 billion on deportation flights, and £2 billion to offer “diplomatic incentives” to countries to accept the return of their nationals or house asylum seekers.
The hardline plan comes in contrast to the more hesitant approach laid out by Farage last year in an interview with GB News’ Steve Edginton, in which he expressed doubts over the feasibility of mass deportations. Thus, the proposals may serve to alleviate critiques from the online right, with the Times describing the plans as the most “radical” of any mainstream British party.
The announcement also comes amid a growing national movement against mass migration, with thousands protesting outside of migrant hotels and St George and Union Jack flags being raised throughout the country. Reform has vowed to use its power in the 12 local councils it controls to launch legal challenges to shut down migrant hotels in their constituencies, with Mr Farage saying that they “are a symbol of all that is wrong, all that is unfair. And, increasingly, it’s a big security risk.”
