Anti-immigration Reform UK party pledges mass detentions, deportations

London, Aug 26 (PTI) Reform UK on Tuesday pledged mass detentions and deportations of illegal migrants as the Nigel Farage-led anti-immigration party’s central plank for the next general election, expected by 2029.

Addressing a news conference at an aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire alongside his Sri Lankan heritage party chairman Zia Yusuf, Farage committed to deporting up to 600,000 migrants in his first term as prime minister if Reform UK wins the next election.

Under a so-called Operation Restoring Justice, he claimed a mix of detention centres on military sites to hold thousands of illegal migrants built within months of taking office, money for voluntary exits, and taking the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) will make up the party’s actions against the mounting crisis of illegal migration into the country.

“The mood in the country around this issue is a mix between total despair and rising anger,” Farage told reporters.

“In fact, I think there is now, as a result of this, a genuine threat to public order and that is the very last thing we want... The only way we'll stop the boats is by detaining and deporting absolutely anyone who comes via that route. And if we do that, the boats will stop coming in days because there will be no incentive," he added.

With a specific reference to Pakistanis as one of the top nationalities overstaying their UK visas to claim asylum in the country, Farage said Reform's plans would also target the “massive problem” of such visa breaches.

“The biggest single category comes from Pakistan and they haven’t come by boat. They’ve come with the excuse that they’re coming to visit relatives, then they overstay, and that racket, absolute racket that’s been going on for years has to end. The same applies to students who come here and wilfully overstay,” the Reform UK member of Parliament said.

Farage's plans include disapplying the 1951 Refugee Convention for a five-year period and other barriers that he said can be used by lawyers to prevent deportations.

“We will create a legal duty for the Home Secretary to remove those that come illegally, and crucially, we will detain all illegal migrants who come, and we will do so immediately,” he added.

The Labour government hit back that while Farage’s party can "stoke anger" on the issue of immigration, ministers are committed to taking "unglamorous but practical" steps to "bear down on this problem".

"What happens if Reform cannot, in that scenario, negotiate return agreements with the Taliban in Afghanistan?" UK housing minister Matthew Pennycook questioned.

The Opposition Conservatives said Reform was "reheating" plans it had already announced. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Tories had tabled a deportation bill, which detailed "how we would disapply the Human Rights Act from all immigration matters, and deport every illegal immigrant on arrival".

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Reform UK's plan "crumbles under the most basic scrutiny".

"The idea that Reform UK is going to magic up some new places to detain people and deport them to, but don't have a clue where those places would be, is taking the public for fools," said Cooper.

According to official estimates, 28,288 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year – 46 per cent more than last year, with a record 111,000 asylum applications made in the year up to June 2025.

In recent weeks, large protests and counter-protests have taken place in parts of the UK over housing asylum seekers in hotels while they await a decision on their applications. PTI AK GRS GRS