Reform UK is proposing the mass deportation of asylum seekers arriving in the UK via small boats.
Party leader Nigel Farage stated to The Times that the UK faces a “massive crisis,” posing a national security threat and potentially leading to public disorder.
The proposed plan includes arresting individuals upon arrival, detaining them at disused RAF bases, and, pending agreements, returning them to countries that are significant sources of arrivals, such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.
These measures are anticipated to face legal challenges and political opposition. Labour has dismissed them as “pie in the sky,” while the Conservatives argue Reform is simply reiterating existing ideas.
Reform estimates the plan would cost £10 billion over five years but argues it would ultimately save the government money by eliminating expenses associated with asylum hotels and related costs.
Under the proposed Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill, Farage’s party would consider relocating migrants to British overseas territories like Ascension Island as a contingency.
The party would also explore utilizing “third countries” like Rwanda and Albania to accommodate asylum seekers.
The previous Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme encountered numerous legal hurdles and ultimately resulted in only four individuals being sent to the country before the current Labour government ended it.
Farage told the Times that the implementation of detention and deportation measures would quickly deter further arrivals.
“The aim of this legislation is mass deportations,” he stated to the Times.
“We have a massive crisis in Britain. 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.”
Farage is also advocating for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Established in 1950, the ECHR outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to individuals within its 46 signatory countries.
The treaty is a cornerstone of UK human rights law and has been invoked to prevent the deportation of migrants deemed to be illegally residing in the UK.
The government is facing increasing pressure regarding immigration, with a record 111,000 asylum applications submitted to the UK in the year leading up to June.
Home Office figures released this week indicate that despite the surge in applications, asylum spending in the UK has decreased by 12%.
The total expenditure was £4.76 billion in the year ending March 2025, a decrease from £5.38 billion the previous year.
These figures encompass Home Office expenses related to asylum, including direct cash assistance and accommodation, but exclude costs associated with intercepting migrants crossing the Channel.
Small boat arrivals have increased by 38% compared to the previous year, with over half of those arrivals originating from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that Labour had “inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government left in chaos”.
She affirmed that the new government has strengthened immigration controls and “sharply increased” enforcement and returns.
Responding to the Reform leader’s proposals, Angela Eagle, Labour’s border security minister, said: “Nigel Farage is simply plucking numbers out of the air, another pie in the sky policy from a party that will say anything for a headline.”
“We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system,” she added. “Making sure those with no right to be here are removed or deported.”
The Conservatives have accused Reform UK of rehashing their own proposals.
“This big reveal is just recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced,” said shadow home secretary Chris Philp.
“Nigel Farage previously claimed mass deportations were impossible, and now he says it’s his policy,” Philp added. “Who knows what he’ll say next.”
A demonstration by people opposed to asylum seekers being housed in hotels takes place in Bristol.
A heavy police presence kept the opposing groups apart in the largely peaceful protest in Liverpool.
Protests over the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers and counter protests have been taking place.
About 200 anti-immigration protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Horley.
About 150 protestors and 250 counter protestors held signs and chanted outside of the Radisson Blu hotel.