Farage’s claim that Reform’s plan to deport refugees will save UK billions ‘not remotely credible’
Nigel Farage’s claim that Reform UK’s proposal for mass deportation of refugees would save more than £100bn is not “remotely credible”, experts have warned.
Under plans to set up an ICE-style deportation agency, Reform UK has promised to examine every successful asylum application in the last five years and remove anyone found to have entered the country on a small boat or overstayed their visa.
The party estimates 400,000 people would be affected by the majority deportation, saving £14.3bn over the next five years of parliament and a total of £137bn.
But Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King’s College London and former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, said: Independent the figures “do not look remotely convincing”.
The Refugee Council also said reassessing hundreds of thousands of asylum decisions was “not a serious or feasible plan” and would be extremely expensive.
Imran Hussain, the group’s director of external relations, said: “Reopening and reconsidering hundreds of thousands of asylum decisions would disrupt an already struggling system, clog the courts for years and cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.”
He added: “It makes little sense to penalize refugees for how they entered the UK when most people seeking asylum do not have safe and legal routes to reach the UK.
“Many of the men, women and children targeted by these proposals were already recognized as refugees, having fled humanitarian disasters and brutal regimes in countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan. For many of the people we work with, being granted refugee status in Britain saved their lives, and they went on to help the UK by working in our NHS, care homes or high streets.”
At a press conference in Westminster, Mr Farage and Reform’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf also doubled down on claims that previous governments had presided over an “invasion of Britain”.
The reform has already promised to identify and deport all illegal immigrants in the UK, as well as to depart from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which people often use to claim asylum.
The party said it would aim to deport 188,000 illegal immigrants a year by operating five repatriation flights a day.
Also during the press conference, Mr Farage was asked about reports that Reform deputy leader Richard Tice had failed to pay almost £100,000 in corporation tax.
Reports suggested Mr Tice’s accounts were not audited, but Mr Farage insisted his tax affairs were handled by “professional accountants”.
He added: “It’s very easy to throw around accusations about people’s taxes.
“All I can tell you is that Richard Tice has had a long distinguished career in business, and if there’s a mistake, if his accountants have made a mistake, he’ll fix it. But I very, very doubt that will be the case.”
Labor leader Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage can deflect all he wants but the truth is his deputy hasn’t paid taxes. “This is a serious scandal and one that Reform’s leaders are in complete denial about.
“This is not going to go away. Richard Tice demanded that others resign over smaller tax mistakes and now believes the rules do not apply to him. Tice must pay his debt and face the consequences.”
