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Farage to unveil deportation plans as Reform suggests it is possible to remove all illegal immigrants from UK
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Nigel Farage will outline Reform’s plans to tackle small boats crossings this morning, setting out his party’s stall for government if it wins the next general election, expected in 2029.
The Reform party leader has claimed that his plans will lead to the “mass deportation” of hundreds of thousands of migrants and will prevent anyone entering illegally from ever being able to claim asylum.
A central tenant of Farage’s platform is disapplying swathes of international law to make removals easier. How tenable these plans are remains to be seen as the party would likely face many legal obstacles.
Reform is promising to leave the European court of human rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act and disapply international treaties like the Refugee Convention.
Writing in the Telegraph, Farage said:
No longer will these malign influences be allowed to frustrate deportations. The planes will take off, and plenty of them at that.
The time has come to put this country first. This is all a question of priorities.
Is Keir Starmer on the side of the British people, national security and protecting women and girls – or is he on the side of outdated international treaties and human rights lawyers?
Reform only have four MPs but have had an outsized impact on Labour’s stance on illegal migration, pushing them to adopt ever more right-wing positions and intensify its rhetoric on the issue.
The government has set out its plan to close asylum hotels by the end of the parliament and the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced a “one in, one out” returns deal with France last month.
But there is a rising political urgency around the issue as Reform continues to lead polls and asylum hotel demonstrations spread across the country.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Zia Yusuf, head of Reform’s government efficiency department, insisted it is possible to remove all illegal immigrants from the UK despite Farage having previously called it a “political impossibility”.
“(Nigel Farage) said it was a political impossibility. His view on that clearly has decisively changed because of the facts on the ground and the fact that we’ve now done the work that this not only can be done, it must be done,” he said. “The social contract in this country is hanging by a thread.”
Yusuf said Reform UK would set up a new agency called the “deportation command” and that under the plans those who have entered the UK illegal would be detained and “not be allowed to roam around inside the community”.
He added:
And this is a temporary programme, so regardless where they are, regardless of the accommodation, they will be gone at the end of Nigel’s first term.
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Many people making the dangerous journey across the Channel are trying to escape rapid climate change, famine, oppressive governments and war across Africa, Asia and the Middle East but the reasons motivating their migration are rarely featured in political commentary, much of which is demonising and dehumanising.
The Guardian’s home affairs editor, Rajeev Syal, has this explainer on what factors are behind the rise in Channel crossings.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has confirmed that the first small boats arrivals have been detained to send back to France under the one in, one out migrant deal.
Here are some of the quotes he gave to Times Radio presenter Rosie Wright when asked how much more capacity there is in the system to detain more people who have crossed the Channel:
Well, there is capacity in the system. But as you know, the pressures that we have in the debate about hotel use and other forms of contingency accommodation.
But that contingency accommodation, including hotels, including large scale government owned sites … for example, Napier Barracks in Kent, are there.
The housing minister was then asked how confident the one in one out scheme is sufficient to deter migrants from crossing the Channel.
Well, it’s early days in terms of this pilot scheme getting up and running. We are confident that as part of a wider comprehensive plan, it will act as a deterrent. But don’t forget, the key elements of our strategy are not yet enforced.
Our borders bill, which will give law enforcement new counter terror style powers to tackle the gangs who are running this vile trade that’s still going through parliament. French authorities are still reviewing their laws so that border enforcement teams on their side of the Channel can intervene in shallow waters.
So taken as a whole, yes, the package, we are confident will work. It won’t be a quick, overnight fix, but we’re taking the unglamorous, hard headed, practical steps needed to clamp down on this crisis. In contrast, I have to say to parties trying to hoodwink the British public with unworkable gimmicks.
UK ready to deport 100 migrants back across the Channel - report
Under the growing pressure from Reform and internal pressure from some Labour MPs, Keir Starmer has made tackling illegal immigration and “restoring order” to the asylum system a key political priority.
The number of people who have crossed the Channel on small boats since Labour took office last summer has recently exceeded 50,000, a milestone that Starmer did not want to reach so quickly.
Under a new “one in, one out” pilot scheme set up between the British and French governments over the summer, France will accept the return of undocumented people arriving in Britain by small boats, in exchange for Britain agreeing to accept an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with British family connections.
More than 100 asylum seekers have now been detained for deportation to France, the Times is reporting. The outlet says there are dozens of migrants in detention, including some arrested over the bank holiday weekend.
A government source told the Times:
Detentions of those arriving from France have been taking place over the last 24 hours, so these small boat migrants may end up finding themselves being bussed to a detention centre before the day is out.
Farage to unveil deportation plans as Reform suggests it is possible to remove all illegal immigrants from UK
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Nigel Farage will outline Reform’s plans to tackle small boats crossings this morning, setting out his party’s stall for government if it wins the next general election, expected in 2029.
The Reform party leader has claimed that his plans will lead to the “mass deportation” of hundreds of thousands of migrants and will prevent anyone entering illegally from ever being able to claim asylum.
A central tenant of Farage’s platform is disapplying swathes of international law to make removals easier. How tenable these plans are remains to be seen as the party would likely face many legal obstacles.
Reform is promising to leave the European court of human rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act and disapply international treaties like the Refugee Convention.
Writing in the Telegraph, Farage said:
No longer will these malign influences be allowed to frustrate deportations. The planes will take off, and plenty of them at that.
The time has come to put this country first. This is all a question of priorities.
Is Keir Starmer on the side of the British people, national security and protecting women and girls – or is he on the side of outdated international treaties and human rights lawyers?
Reform only have four MPs but have had an outsized impact on Labour’s stance on illegal migration, pushing them to adopt ever more right-wing positions and intensify its rhetoric on the issue.
The government has set out its plan to close asylum hotels by the end of the parliament and the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, announced a “one in, one out” returns deal with France last month.
But there is a rising political urgency around the issue as Reform continues to lead polls and asylum hotel demonstrations spread across the country.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Zia Yusuf, head of Reform’s government efficiency department, insisted it is possible to remove all illegal immigrants from the UK despite Farage having previously called it a “political impossibility”.
“(Nigel Farage) said it was a political impossibility. His view on that clearly has decisively changed because of the facts on the ground and the fact that we’ve now done the work that this not only can be done, it must be done,” he said. “The social contract in this country is hanging by a thread.”
Yusuf said Reform UK would set up a new agency called the “deportation command” and that under the plans those who have entered the UK illegal would be detained and “not be allowed to roam around inside the community”.
He added:
And this is a temporary programme, so regardless where they are, regardless of the accommodation, they will be gone at the end of Nigel’s first term.
