Nigel Farage will vow to scrap all asylum tribunals and close all legal refugee routes if his party is elected as he struggles with falling poll ratings and ongoing donor scandals
Nigel Farage’s latest announcement comes as Reform UK continue to struggle with falling poll ratings(Image: Gary Oakley/PA Wire)
Nigel Farage is set to announce a desperate pledge to ban anyone from being granted asylum for five years if Reform wins the next election.
Under the plans, all asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes will be scrapped for a full parliamentary term – while any applications in progress would be declared void. All asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes will also be closed.
It comes as the Reform UK leader attempts to reverse months of flagging poll ratings, with the party now trailing Labour by several points and even falling behind the Tories in some recent surveys.
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Ongoing controversy over donations has rocked the party since this summer, triggering an internal crisis, high-profile resignations, and a criminal investigation by the Met Police.
On Monday, Mr Farage will say that a Reform UK government would not hear the around 90,000 outstanding asylum and humanitarian protection appeals – and instead deport the claimants. The party would immediately close resettlement schemes that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently said would reopen, with around a quarter of those admitted to the UK expected to be Palestinians and women and girls from Afghanistan.
Reform claims there is “no mandate” for such schemes and that anyone who has arrived under them would be deported. Any refugees granted asylum in the last five years would have their cases reviewed by the Home Office under the plans.
Mr Farage told The Telegraph: “The country is currently facing a national security emergency and the first duty of government is to protect its citizens. We cannot accept more asylum seekers while we still have no idea how many people are in the country illegally and the threat they pose. A Reform government will always put British people first and protect our borders.”
The party will also pledge to use tariffs to force countries to take back migrants. It comes after the party unveiled plans earlier this year to impose “visa freezes” on those wanting to visit the UK legally from countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if they do not accept deportees.
These would halt any new visas for nationals of those countries – as well as Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia – which the party would target due to having significant levels of visas issued to the UK.
Reform UK also recently proposed Trump-style tariffs on countries who refuse to take back deportees from the UK, and bans on their airlines using British airspace.
