Reform accused of ‘direct attack on settled families’ with new migration plan
Reform UK has been accused of launching a “direct attack on settled families” that are “fundamentally un-British” after announcing a series of new proposals to tackle immigration, including mass deportations and increased surveillance.
The party’s new home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, will give a speech outlining plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain and replace it with a renewable five-year work visa and special spouse visa, as well as creating a new agency with the capacity to detain 24,000 immigrants at a time.
The speech will also outline the party’s plans for a new rule requiring automatic searches of the homes of people referred to the Counter-Terrorism Prevention program by three “separate, supporting authorities”.
Mr Yusuf will also announce that stop and search powers have been “massively expanded”, including “saturation policing” in high crime areas.
Labor has opposed the plans, saying Britain is a “proud, tolerant and diverse nation” that opposes “divisive policies fueled by reform”.
Amnesty International UK, meanwhile, accused the party of scapegoating immigrants to “justify mass deportations and expanded police surveillance.”
Mr Yusuf is expected to outline the proposals in a speech in Dover on Monday, where he will focus on immigration, policing, national security frameworks and “cultural preservation”.
Other home affairs policies he will set include:
- A promise to “freeze visas” to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if they refuse to take back migrants who have no legal right to stay in the UK.
- As part of “protecting Britain’s Christian heritage”, all churches were immediately given listed status to “legally prevent them from being converted into mosques or other places of worship”.
- Immediate end to Universal Credit benefit payments to foreign nationals
- Charter flights, supported by a spare RAF Voyager aircraft, will operate five times a day
- Police will be stripped of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion powers
Reform said the costs will be determined when asked to calculate them at an event on Monday.
Reform said plans for a new deportation agency would have the capacity to detain 24,000 migrants at a time and deport up to 288,000 people a year, and also promised to operate five deportation flights every day.
Ms Yusuf is expected to say: “For decades, as the fabric of our society has been under attack, the Conservatives and Labor have gone the other way.
“The social contract has not only been broken, it has been shattered. Under a reform government, Her Majesty’s Parliament will rule once again.
“We will secure our borders, leave the ECHR and deport those here unlawfully. My message to the British people is simple: I will secure our borders and make you feel safe.”
The attack on the Conservative Party and Labor comes despite a number of high-profile departures from Kemi Badenoch’s party in recent weeks, including Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick; Both played key roles in the previous Conservative government and were named spokespersons for Reform UK last week.
Responding to Mr Yusuf’s upcoming speech, Labor leader Anna Turley said: “Reform seeks to divide our country, not to serve the British people.
“Plans to deport people who follow the rules, work hard and make their lives here – our friends, neighbors and colleagues – are a direct attack on settled families and, fundamentally, non-British people.”
He added: “The British people are right to expect our borders to be tightly controlled, with clear rules on who can come here and swift action against those who have no right to be here, as well as actions that will make our country safe, and that’s what Labor is delivering.”
Meanwhile, Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International UK said: “Last week the target was the Equality Act; this week the target is the ECHR.
“We are most threatened not by the people they scapegoat to justify mass deportations and expanded police surveillance, but by those who seek to take away our basic rights and protections.
“Our society is built on diversity, not monoculture. Targeting vulnerable communities in the name of security puts everyone at risk.
“True national security protects rights, promotes justice, and defends our common humanity. Sacrificing freedoms for politics driven by fear weakens the country we all claim to defend.”
