Farage vows mass deportations to tackle small boats

Reform Britain is calling for mass deportations of asylum seekers who arrive in the UK in small boats. Nigel Farage, the party's leader, told The Times that there is a vast crisis in the UK that threatens national security and can lead to public chaos. People could be arrested on arrival, detained on disused RAF bases, and, if agreements were reached, returned to Afghanistan, Eritrea, and other countries that are significant sources of arrivals. Many of these steps may face legal challenges and political resistance. Labour has branded them pie in the sky, while Conservatives claim that Reform is resurrecting their ideas.

Reform estimated that the five-year budget would cost £10 billion over five years, but that would save the government money because it will not be spending money on asylum hotels and other items. Farage's party may consider transferring migrants to British overseas territories such Ascension Island as a fallback option under the current Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill. It could also consider using third countries such as Rwanda and Albania to house asylum seekers. The old Conservative government's Rwanda programme was plagued by legal difficulties, and only four people were sent there before it was ended by the Labour government. Farage said in the Times that if people know they will be arrested and deported, they will stop coming very quickly.The intention of this legislation is mass deportations,he told the Times.We have a massive crisis in Britain. It's not just posing a national security risk, but it's also triggering public outrage that isn't very far away from disorder.

There is only one way to discourage people from entering the country, and that is to detain them and deport them.

Farage also intends to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR was established in 1950 and lays out the rights and freedoms that people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries. The treaty is a fundamental part of the UK's human rights legislation, and has been used to prevent attempts to deport migrants who are deemed to be in the UK unlawfully.

With a record 111,000 asylum applications submitted to the UK in the year from June, the government is facing increasing strain over immigration. Despite rising numbers, the Home Office's estimates this week revealed that, despite increased applications, spending on asylum in the UK dropped by 12%. The total stood at £4. In the year that ended in March 2025, the 76 billion-bn fell 6 billion, down from £5. 38bn the previous year. Those estimates include direct cash assistance and housing, but not costs related to intercepting migrants crossing the Channel. Small boat arrivals increased by 38% year on year, with more than half of those arriving from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. Labour's

inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government had left in chaos,

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said. According to her, the new government had tightened immigration controls and sharply increased enforcement and return.

Nigel Farage is just plucking numbers out of the air,

Angela Eagle, Labour's border security minister, said, referring to the Reform leader's plans.

We are getting a grip of the broken asylum system,

she continued.

Those with no right to be here are either barred or deported,

the queen says.

The Conservatives believed that Reform UK was reworking their theories.

This big reveal is just repeating many ideas that the Conservatives have already revealed,shadow home secretary Chris Philp said.Nigel Farage said mass deportations were impossible before, and now he says it's his policy,Philp said.Who knows what he'll say next.