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| Farage’s plan to deport thousands of asylum seekers draws scorn from legal experts | Farage’s plan to deport thousands of asylum seekers draws scorn from legal experts |
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| Reform UK leader told scheme is ‘simply not rooted in reality’ after he dodges questions on how it would work | Reform UK leader told scheme is ‘simply not rooted in reality’ after he dodges questions on how it would work |
| UK politics live – latest updates | UK politics live – latest updates |
| Nigel Farage’s plans to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers to despotic regimes such as Afghanistan’s Taliban and withdraw the UK from vital human rights protections have triggered fierce condemnation from legal experts and political opponents, who said the proposals would dismantle Britain’s postwar commitments and shred fundamental rights. | |
| Unveiling Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” at a combative Oxford press conference, Farage claimed his party would detain and deport “absolutely anyone” arriving by small boat and ensure they are “never, ever allowed to stay”, insisting this would stop crossings “within days” and “save tens and possibly hundreds of billions of pounds”. | Unveiling Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” at a combative Oxford press conference, Farage claimed his party would detain and deport “absolutely anyone” arriving by small boat and ensure they are “never, ever allowed to stay”, insisting this would stop crossings “within days” and “save tens and possibly hundreds of billions of pounds”. |
| Pressed by reporters, Farage confirmed that women and children would also be detained under the plans, conceding that “how we deal with children is a more complicated and difficult issue” but insisting all arrivals would be subject to removal. | Pressed by reporters, Farage confirmed that women and children would also be detained under the plans, conceding that “how we deal with children is a more complicated and difficult issue” but insisting all arrivals would be subject to removal. |
| But Farage repeatedly dodged questions about how the scheme would work in practice. He was unable to name a single RAF base to be converted into secure detention facilities, despite insisting they would be central to his plans. | But Farage repeatedly dodged questions about how the scheme would work in practice. He was unable to name a single RAF base to be converted into secure detention facilities, despite insisting they would be central to his plans. |
| He offered no detail on how Reform would secure deportation agreements with countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan, many of which have no return treaties with the UK and are considered unsafe by British courts. Farage could not explain how Reform’s scheme would be funded, beyond claiming costs would be a fraction of independent estimates. | He offered no detail on how Reform would secure deportation agreements with countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan, many of which have no return treaties with the UK and are considered unsafe by British courts. Farage could not explain how Reform’s scheme would be funded, beyond claiming costs would be a fraction of independent estimates. |
| Reform’s leadership said it would repeal the Human Rights Act, leave the European convention on human rights (ECHR), and disapply the 1951 refugee convention and UN convention against torture, with senior party figure Zia Yusuf declaring that “no lawyer and no judge” would be able to prevent deportation flights from leaving. | Reform’s leadership said it would repeal the Human Rights Act, leave the European convention on human rights (ECHR), and disapply the 1951 refugee convention and UN convention against torture, with senior party figure Zia Yusuf declaring that “no lawyer and no judge” would be able to prevent deportation flights from leaving. |
| George Peretz KC, the chair of the Society of Labour Lawyers, said: “The Reform party’s policy is simply not rooted in reality. They want to institute a mass deportation programme with no real, or workable, idea of where people would be deported to. | George Peretz KC, the chair of the Society of Labour Lawyers, said: “The Reform party’s policy is simply not rooted in reality. They want to institute a mass deportation programme with no real, or workable, idea of where people would be deported to. |
| “Reform’s policy would require a returns policy to be negotiated with regimes such as the Taliban and Iran, and may, by their own admission, involve paying those regimes to do so. Which is impractical and extremely concerning, as well as unlawful (as our own courts ruled in the Rwanda case).” | “Reform’s policy would require a returns policy to be negotiated with regimes such as the Taliban and Iran, and may, by their own admission, involve paying those regimes to do so. Which is impractical and extremely concerning, as well as unlawful (as our own courts ruled in the Rwanda case).” |
| Kolbassia Haoussou, the director of survivor leadership at Freedom from Torture, called the plans “a gift to repressive regimes” and said Britain would be abandoning one of humanity’s “clearest moral lines”. He said: “This is not who we are as a country. | Kolbassia Haoussou, the director of survivor leadership at Freedom from Torture, called the plans “a gift to repressive regimes” and said Britain would be abandoning one of humanity’s “clearest moral lines”. He said: “This is not who we are as a country. |
| “Men, women and children are coming to the UK looking for safety. They are fleeing the unimaginable horrors of torture in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran. These laws were created in the aftermath of the second world war to protect us all. If Britain were to abandon this legacy it would hand repressive regimes around the world a gift and undermine the promise to defend our shared right to live a life free from torture.” | “Men, women and children are coming to the UK looking for safety. They are fleeing the unimaginable horrors of torture in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran. These laws were created in the aftermath of the second world war to protect us all. If Britain were to abandon this legacy it would hand repressive regimes around the world a gift and undermine the promise to defend our shared right to live a life free from torture.” |
| The human rights lawyer Adam Wagner KC said Reform’s promises were not only “legally extreme” but fundamentally misleading. | The human rights lawyer Adam Wagner KC said Reform’s promises were not only “legally extreme” but fundamentally misleading. |
| “A lot of the rights contained in the European Convention come from British common law: the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and the right not to be tortured,” he said. “Farage may believe repealing treaties clears the path for mass deportations, but UK courts are not bound to ignore centuries of legal tradition.” | “A lot of the rights contained in the European Convention come from British common law: the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and the right not to be tortured,” he said. “Farage may believe repealing treaties clears the path for mass deportations, but UK courts are not bound to ignore centuries of legal tradition.” |
| Politicians swiftly challenged the scale and practicality of the plans. | Politicians swiftly challenged the scale and practicality of the plans. |
| Downing Street accused Nigel Farage of not being “serious” about his plans to deport asylum seekers, saying that leaving thefECHR would undermine peace in Northern Ireland. | Downing Street accused Nigel Farage of not being “serious” about his plans to deport asylum seekers, saying that leaving thefECHR would undermine peace in Northern Ireland. |
| The prime minister’s spokesperson criticised the Reform leader on Tuesday, saying that any plan that required leaving the ECHR was bound to fail. | The prime minister’s spokesperson criticised the Reform leader on Tuesday, saying that any plan that required leaving the ECHR was bound to fail. |
| “The ECHR underpins key international agreements on trade, security and migration – and the Good Friday agreement,” Downing Street said. “Anyone who is proposing to renegotiate the Good Friday agreement is not serious.” | “The ECHR underpins key international agreements on trade, security and migration – and the Good Friday agreement,” Downing Street said. “Anyone who is proposing to renegotiate the Good Friday agreement is not serious.” |
| No 10 refused, however, to criticise other elements of Farage’s speech, including his references to irregular migration as an “invasion” and a “scourge”, as well as his prediction that Britain is “not far away from major civil disorder”. | No 10 refused, however, to criticise other elements of Farage’s speech, including his references to irregular migration as an “invasion” and a “scourge”, as well as his prediction that Britain is “not far away from major civil disorder”. |
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| Asked about those comments, the spokesperson said: “We have to recognise the strength of feeling about this and the pressure that it puts on public services. That’s why we are taking the serious, practical action to address this issue, and not just returning back to the old gimmicks, the old slogans that failed to deal with this and left us with the crisis that we currently face.” | Asked about those comments, the spokesperson said: “We have to recognise the strength of feeling about this and the pressure that it puts on public services. That’s why we are taking the serious, practical action to address this issue, and not just returning back to the old gimmicks, the old slogans that failed to deal with this and left us with the crisis that we currently face.” |
| Pushed on whether it would be a good idea to sign a returns deal with Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, as Farage has suggested, Downing Street said: “We’re not going to take anything off the table in terms of striking returns agreements with countries around the world.” | Pushed on whether it would be a good idea to sign a returns deal with Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, as Farage has suggested, Downing Street said: “We’re not going to take anything off the table in terms of striking returns agreements with countries around the world.” |
| Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. | Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Farage’s plan crumbles under the most basic scrutiny. |
| “The idea that Reform is going to magic up places to detain hundreds of thousands of people and deport them to countries who haven’t agreed to take them is taking the public for fools. Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave.” | “The idea that Reform is going to magic up places to detain hundreds of thousands of people and deport them to countries who haven’t agreed to take them is taking the public for fools. Of course Nigel Farage wants to follow his idol Vladimir Putin in ripping up the human rights convention. Winston Churchill would be turning in his grave.” |
| Farage claims the programme would deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers in a single parliament, yet the costings remain opaque. | Farage claims the programme would deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers in a single parliament, yet the costings remain opaque. |
| A report by the Centre for Migration Control, which produced costings alongside the MP Rupert Lowe but is not led by him, estimated a near-identical mass deportation scheme would cost £47.5bn over five years. Farage insists his plan would provide the same scale of removals for £10bn, but offered no operational blueprint or independent evidence to support the claim. | A report by the Centre for Migration Control, which produced costings alongside the MP Rupert Lowe but is not led by him, estimated a near-identical mass deportation scheme would cost £47.5bn over five years. Farage insists his plan would provide the same scale of removals for £10bn, but offered no operational blueprint or independent evidence to support the claim. |
| Farage argued that “over three-quarters” of small-boat arrivals were “young undocumented males” from “cultures entirely different from ours” who were “unlikely to assimilate” and “pose a risk to women and girls”, language likely to draw criticism from equality groups and anti-racism campaigners. | Farage argued that “over three-quarters” of small-boat arrivals were “young undocumented males” from “cultures entirely different from ours” who were “unlikely to assimilate” and “pose a risk to women and girls”, language likely to draw criticism from equality groups and anti-racism campaigners. |
| He also spoke of a “genuine threat to public order” if his proposals were not adopted, framing his plan as the only bulwark against rising anger and “civil disorder”. | He also spoke of a “genuine threat to public order” if his proposals were not adopted, framing his plan as the only bulwark against rising anger and “civil disorder”. |