Reform would threaten foreign assets in asylum crackdown, says Farage

Nigel Farage said a Reform UK government would threaten foreign assets in the UK if other countries refused to accept deportees, as he pledged to suspend the asylum system for five years.

Mr Farage said there were “too many people here who frankly should not be here” and the suspension would give “time to sort out the mess”.

The policy, announced at a press conference in Kent on Monday, would see all pending asylum cases rejected, with applicants then liable for deportation.

Reform would also review the status of anyone who has been granted asylum since 2024, with those coming from countries deemed safe by the home secretary losing their permission to remain in the UK.

All legal resettlement routes would also be abolished, except for those set up for Ukrainians in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.

(PA Graphics)

PA Graphics

The party’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said Reform planned to deport “north of 1 million people”, including foreign criminals and others with no right to be in the UK.

But he insisted the party was “not in the business of sending people to be killed or tortured”, telling the press conference there would be “third country options” for “edge cases”.

Mr Farage said a future Reform government would take action against countries that did not agree to accept deportees, saying: “People will accept their bad guys back.”

He said: “If that means, in the case of Pakistan, that we have to bring in visa bans, we’ll do so.

“If it means threatening Pakistani nationals’ assets in London, we will do so.

“If it means introducing flight bans, we will do so.

“And in extremis, we’d even look at tariffs.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage raised the possibility of tariffs (Gareth Fuller/PA)

PA Wire

In a policy document on Reform’s proposals, the party also said it would significantly expand immigration checks, with officials carrying out food hygiene inspections, fire safety audits or health and safety checks also required to examine workers’ migration status.

Labour has called the plans “a clear sign of desperation and weakness”.

Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said: “Nigel Farage is casting around for more and more extreme policies as he tries to deal with scandals, police investigations and a growing challenge from Restore — this is a carbon copy of their policy.

“Running away from basic decency by entirely abandoning those escaping war and persecution might look to Reform like a way of winning a bidding war with other parties on the right, but the vast majority of British people will reject it as an assault on our common values.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the proposals “largely copy” the Conservatives.

He said: “Banning asylum claims by illegal immigrants, abolishing the immigration tribunal and ending Labour’s resettlement routes are all existing Conservative policy.”