Nigel Farage Criticised Over Reform UKs Deportation Plan

Reform UK has been condemned over the party’s “cruel” plan to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants if it wins the next election.

Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesman, said a Reform government would review all successful asylum claims going back five years.

Anyone found to have arrived in the UK illegally or overstayed their visa would be deported, he said.

As many as 400,000 immigrants would potentially be affected by the policy, according to the party.

Yusuf said: “Reform will reverse the invasion of Britain. Anyone who broke into the country illegally, or came in on a visa and overstayed to claim asylum (which is almost all of them) will have their status revoked and be deported.

“This is an addition to all those currently in Britain illegally.”

At a press conference on Monday, Reform leader Nigel Farage said Britain was being “invaded” by illegal immigrants.

The announcement comes after 602 people crossed the English Channel on small boats on Saturday, making it this year’s second busiest day for crossings and bringing the total number of arrivals in 2026 to more than 6,000.

Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward condemned the Reform plan.

She said: “Another superficial, ill-thought-out and cruel announcement by Reform UK, which will fail to tackle the roots of the asylum crisis whilst making sure more suffering is heaped on the most vulnerable.

“We do not want to see people risking their lives crossing the Channel in small boats. What we need is strong international co-operation to address the reasons that people are having to seek asylum in the first place: war, poverty and the climate crisis, and to provide safe and managed routes that would offer a real alternative to people smugglers.”

“We must remember our basic humanity. Many of those seeking asylum have endured horrendous trauma. They include mothers and children. We have a duty to offer compassion and sanctuary, not insecurity, fear and intimidation.”

Will Forster, the Liberal Democrat immigration and asylum spokesman, accused Reform of “churning out hostile, headline-grabbing” plans that will “do absolutely nothing to tackle our broken asylum system”.

He added: “The backlog of cases is already sky high thanks to the mess the Conservatives left us in. Reviewing five years worth of asylum grants is an impractical farce that will just slow down the process even more.”

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