In a move that has sent ripples through the British political landscape, Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party have announced a series of radical new policies aimed at overhauling the UK’s immigration system.
At a press conference today, the Reform UK leader revealed a plan he says would lead to the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people who have come to the UK legally under previous government policies.
Farage framed the announcement as a response to the “Boris wave”, referring to the increase in legal migration under the post-Brexit rules established by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The new proposals target a major change to the current system, particularly the right to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), for which migrants can currently apply after five years.
The End of Indefinite Leave to Remain
Under the new Reform UK plans, the ILR system would be abolished entirely. Instead, all non-citizens would be required to hold a renewable five-year visa.
This new visa would come with a series of stricter conditions, including a higher salary threshold, a better standard of English, and a requirement to have lived in the UK for seven years, up from the current five.
In a move that has been met with immediate controversy, Reform UK stated that the new policy would also apply retrospectively.
This means that people who have already obtained or are in the process of obtaining ILR would have to reapply for the new, stricter visa, throwing the lives and status of many families into uncertainty.
The party claims that this change would “lead to hundreds of thousands of people… losing their settled status.”
The Numbers and the Backlash
The Reform UK leader’s announcement was accompanied by a bold claim: the changes would save the taxpayer £234 billion. However, this figure has been widely disputed.
A think tank that originally published the estimate has since disowned it, stating that the figures “should no longer be used.” This has led critics from both the Labour and Conservative parties to label the plan as “unworkable” and lacking credibility.
The proposals go beyond legal immigration. Farage has previously outlined his “Operation Restoring Justice” plan to tackle illegal immigration. That plan involves a five-year program to detain and deport illegal migrants, with the goal of removing up to 600,000 asylum seekers within the first five years of a Reform UK government.
This part of the plan would require the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act, and disregard other international treaties.
The announcement has been met with a chorus of condemnation from human rights advocates and international law experts, who warn that leaving the ECHR and other conventions would make the UK a “pariah state” and dismantle key human rights protections for all British citizens.
The Farage deportation plan represents a seismic shift in the UK’s political discourse on immigration, and its feasibility and potential consequences are now at the centre of a heated national debate.
You can watch an overview of Nigel Farage’s plan to tackle illegal immigration in a speech he gave at Oxford Airport here.
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