Reform 'could deport 600,000 asylum seekers'

REFORM UK would seek to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers in its first parliament if elected to government.

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Nigel Farage warned of a “genuine threat to public order” without action to tackle illegal migration as he and Zia Yusuf launched the party's plans at an event at London Oxford Airport.

Reform UK describes its “Operation Restoring Justice” as a five-year emergency programme to detain and deport illegal migrants and deter future arrivals that it would enact if elected to government.

Downing Street criticised Mr Farage’s plans as “old gimmicks” while emphasising Sir Keir Starmer’s grasp of the public's “strength of feeling” on the issue of small boat crossings, over which the Prime Minister is facing mounting pressure.

Reform UK pledged to scale up detention capacity for asylum seekers to 24,000 and secure deals with countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran to return migrants to their countries.

Mr Farage failed to answer when asked how much he would be prepared to pay to Iran and the Taliban to take deportees back.

Asked whether the UK Government could seek deals with Afghanistan and Eritrea, the Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: “We're not going to take anything off the table in terms of striking returns agreements with countries around the world”

The official denied Mr Farage’s claim that the country was at risk of civil disorder while stressing ministers “recognise the strength of feeling about this’

“That's why we're taking serious practical action to address this issue, not just returning back to the old gimmicks, the old solutions that failed to deal with this,’ Sir Keir’s spokesman said.