Reform will face down any ‘progressive outrage’ over mass deportations, Yusuf says amid outcry over ‘sadistic’ plans

Reform will face down any “progressive outrage” from protesters opposing the party’s plans for mass deportations, the party’s home affairs spokesperson has said when asked whether the party was prepared for US-style standoffs.

Zia Yusuf, speaking at a press conference in Dover where he joined Nigel Farage to unveil a new draconian immigration policy, which has been denied that his plans for a Deportation Command were the same as Donald Trump’s ICE but warned “we will never flinch” in the face of unrest.

He suggested that there would not be similar violence as has been seen on the streets of Minnesota where ICE agents have clashed with and killed protesters, because “policing is done by consent” in the UK.

However, asked about sanctuary cities such as Cardiff and Sheffield which protect asylum seekers from deportation in the UK, Mr Yusuf suggested that he would be prepared to confront protesters and authorities there.

Responding to a question from The Independent, he said: “If your question is, ‘do we have the resolve to stand up to progressive outrage against perfectly different enforcement of the law in this country?’ Then the answer is, we will never flinch.”

Under a Reform government, the party would set up the unit to “track down, detain and deport” people in the country illegally, aiming for up to 288,000 people each year.

He said: “So you know this notion that we’re going to have the same issues that come sharply into focus internationally as a result of Trump’s Ice programme – it’s just not true, we would not expect UK Deportation Command to carry weapons. It’s not going to be the case.

“But I also want to be clear that if you’re in this country illegally, they will detect you and they will detain you and they’ll deport you.”

He added: “If your question is: are we going to have the kind of situation that we saw in Minnesota in Britain as a result of our deportation programme? No.”

The plans have been met with fury, with charities warning they will tear families apart.

Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre, criticised Reform’s deportation plans, adding that retrospectively stripping people of their settled status in the UK would be “callous” and would “actively hurt our economy and public services”.

Speaking about Reform’s deportation proposals, she said: “This is a sadistic vision of UK families and communities being ripped apart, money being wasted, and the government turning against its own people.

“These are proposals designed purely to grab headlines and stoke anger. They are cruel, economically self-defeating, and offer no solutions to the real problems facing people in Britain: poverty and exploitative work.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson had said Reform’s “Trump-inspired plans for an ICE-style force will only bring chaos and disorder to Britain’s streets, not the order and control our immigration system needs”.

Amnesty International UK also warned the UK does not “need or want” a British version of ICE and such proposals to mirror the US “risk unleashing a system built on fear, aggressive raids and discrimination, where enforcement operates with sweeping powers and little accountability.”

In Dover on Monday, Mr Yusuf said the UK is being “invaded” by migrants as he pitched Reform’s mass deportation programme as the biggest in UK history.

The party has also said it will impose “visa freezes” on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if the countries refuse to take back migrants with no legal right to stay in Britain.

Reform has said it would expect to deport more than 600,000 in its first term in government.

Defending his choice of language, Mr Yusuf told a press conference in Dover: “I know many in the establishment gasp at that word.

“They may well clutch their pearls in the television studios, but the dictionary definition of invasion is an incursion by a large number of people in an unwanted way.

“Make no mistake, as home secretary I will end and indeed reverse this invasion, because the patience of the British people is now exhausted.”

Mr Yusuf also said the rights of British citizens are being placed “beneath those of criminals” because of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The party has pledged to leave the treaty.

Mr Yusuf listed what he said were examples of judges blocking the deportation of illegal migrants who had committed crimes.

“How many more people must die at the hands of those who should never have been in our country in the first place?” he said.

“How many more victims’ families must be devastated in this way when their rights are placed beneath those of criminals?

“The answer is none. Vote Reform. We will leave the ECHR and end this madness.”

Reacting to the speech, shadow home secretary Chris Phlip said Mr Yusuf has “nothing new to offer beyond copying and pasting Conservative plans”.