Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has set out plans to detain and deport up to 400,000 asylum seekers should the party win the next general election, in what would represent the most sweeping overhaul of Britain’s immigration system ever proposed by a mainstream political party.
The policy, unveiled as the party continues to build its pre-election platform, would target anyone who arrived in the UK illegally in the five years prior to a Reform government taking office. That encompasses those who crossed the Channel by small boat, entered clandestinely in lorries, claimed asylum using fraudulent documentation, or overstayed an existing visa before submitting an asylum claim. A further category — those whose countries of origin are now considered safe — would also have their humanitarian protection revoked and face removal.
Crucially, the proposals go beyond preventing future illegal arrivals. A Reform government would conduct a retrospective review of all asylum grants made over the preceding five years, stripping leave to remain from those who fall within any of the three target categories, along with their dependants. Those affected would be given a period of time to depart voluntarily, after which the party’s proposed UK Deportation Command would remove them forcibly under new legislation to be called the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Act.
The sheer scale of the ambition presents obvious practical obstacles. Immigration removal centres currently hold fewer than 3,000 people, a fraction of the numbers Reform is proposing to detain. The party has acknowledged the capacity gap but suggested many of those targeted would opt to leave of their own accord, while temporary “pop-up” detention facilities would be established for those who do not. Reform has also committed to withdrawing Britain from both the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention — moves it argues are necessary to give any mass deportation programme legal footing.
Reform’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf framed the announcement in stark terms, accusing successive Labour and Conservative governments of presiding over what he described as an “invasion” of asylum seekers. “Instead of upholding the law, they have rewarded those who broke it by entering Britain illegally,” he said. “Reform will reverse this.”
The announcement came on the same day that 602 migrants crossed the Channel in a single day, bringing this year’s total to 6,077 and the cumulative figure since Labour took office to 70,701.
The Conservatives sought to position the proposals as derivative of their own existing policy. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said his party had already committed to withdrawing from the ECHR and deporting illegal arrivals within a week, with a dedicated Removals Force targeting 150,000 removals per year. “Reform is slowly catching up with our ideas,” he said, “but without the detail that will ensure it works in practice.”
Reform’s spokesman said that based on Home Office data, around 55 per cent of asylum applicants over the past five years had arrived by small boat, clandestinely or without relevant documentation, meaning the vast majority of those in scope would have their humanitarian status revoked. Those still within the asylum system, he added, “would be immediately detained and prioritised for deportation.”
