Courts would block Farage's plans for ‘mass deportation'

The courts would probably block Nigel Farage’s attempts at mass deportation using British common law, even if he “unpicked Britain” from international human rights laws, former attorney general Dominic Grieve has warned.

- DAVID MADDOX

The shot across the bows for Reform UK’s extreme proposals comes as Mr Farage prepares to lay out details this morning on his plans for mass deportations.

Mr Grieve, who recently led the UK Governance Project, a commission which set out recommendations to restore confidence in decision-makers, has issued a scathing critique of Reform’s plans to crack down on the small boats and illegal immigration.

It comes as polling by YouGov has revealed that the public is losing confidence in Sir Keir Starmer to tackle the migration crisis, with 71 per cent saying he is handling it “badly” amid record numbers of small boats crossing the Channel, despite a new returns deal with France.

With disturbances in protests outside migrant hotels over the weekend, Labour has revealed details of trying to water down the impact of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and fast-track cases in a bid to get on top of the problem.

Mr Farage, whose party is leading in the polls, hopes to capitalise on the problems with his mass deportation plan. He will set out plans for five deportation flights a day, dealing with 24,000 asylum seekers detained in holding centres at RAF bases. The Reform leader will also claim that return deals will be done with all countries to which those asylum seekers would need to be deported, including Iran, Afghanistan and Eritrea.

But speaking to The Independent, Mr Grieve has detailed both domestic and international obstacles that would emerge, even after forcing through massive legislative reforms that could leave Britain as an international pariah.