Nigel Farage’s mass deportations plans ‘uncosted and unconstructed’, Home Office minister says

On Tuesday, the Reform UK leader announced plans for mass deportations of asylum seekers and immigrants, claiming the party would deport 600,000 migrants over five years if it came to power.

Mr Farage said it would cost an estimated £10 billion as he announced the plans alongside Zia Yusuf, Reform's newly appointed "head of DOGE" (Department of Government Efficiency). When asked how he got to the £10 billion figure, Mr Farage said it was because "Zia's really good at maths.”

But Lord Hanson of Flint has told LBC’s Ben Kentish the plans are "uncosted, unconstructed" and "won't be very effective".

"Nigel Farage's plan, such as it is, could have been written on the back of a fag packet, is very uncosted and unconstructed, and it's not really going to be very effective and it's not really a plan that is deliverable,” he said.

The veteran politician, who has served under Blair and Brown’s governments, added: “To deliver something, you need to have a proper, effective plan.

“And what we're trying to do in government, difficult and challenging though it is, is to make some inroads into some of the real challenges and real issues without … promising undeliverable plans".

Read more: Farage says UK in 'total despair' over migration as Reform sets out plan to 'detain and deport' all illegal migrants

Read more: Nigel Farage's six word answer on how Reform would fund migrant deportations

Though the Reform leader said the policy could save the UK "hundreds of billions" of pounds by 2034, his party failed to detail how the measures would be funded.

Meanwhile, a near identical plan by The Centre for Migrant Control, led by Rupert Lowe, has been costed at around £47.5 billion.

Mr Farage, who previously claimed mass deportations were a "political impossibility" said his party has formulated "a credible plan, so that we can deport hundreds of thousands of people over the five years of a Reform government".

Announcing the policy, named Operation Restoring Justice, Mr Farage said the "only way" to stop small boats from crossing the English Channel into the UK was by "detaining and deporting absolutely anyone who comes via that route".

"If we do that, the boats will stop coming in days because there will be no incentive," he added.

Speaking at the event in Oxford, the MP for Clacton also pledged to withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and repeal the Human Rights Act from 1998 if he becomes PM.

The ECHR protects various human rights, including: the right to life, the prohibition of torture, slavery and inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to liberty and security, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association and the right to private and family life.

Lord Hanson said withdrawing from the ECHR would bring Britain on par with countries like Russia, which is one of the two countries in Europe not signed up to the convention, along with Belarus.

"The ECHR has a number of basic rights,” he said. “They were signed up internationally and we'd be joining, potentially countries just like Russia who are not signed up to that European Convention on Human Rights.”

“There are a lot of rights in there which are absolutely essential. That doesn't mean we can't make some changes. And one of the things that we're doing in the current immigration bill, going through Parliament now, which I'm taking through the House of Lords, is looking at how we can look at the question of Article 8, right to family life, and making sure that we review that, which we will be doing in the next few weeks, to make sure that there's aspects of judicial discretion that are looked at again".

Mr Farage’s announcement said his party would block anyone coming into the UK on small boats from claiming asylum, instead arresting them on arrival, detaining them at disused RAF bases and returning them to their countries of arrival if agreements are reached.

Suggesting raids would take place across the country under a Reform government in a bid to remove illegal migrants, Farage said "goodness only knows what this country will look like" without removals in 10 years time.

Asked by LBC's Natasha Clarke why the public should believe the party's policy pledges, Mr Farage reiterated that "every Prime Minister since David Cameron has said clearly if you come to Britain illegally, you will be removed and they all do it and none deliver."

"I think they say it because they think the public wants to hear it rather than they actually mean it," Mr Farage continued.

"The fundamental point of your question is correct, that the social contract that exists in this country between those that work and pay their taxes and those that govern them is at a very, very fragile moment, that trust in politics and trust in politicians, frankly, it's certainly never been lower in my lifetime and I think you might have to go back a long way in history to find a parallel period, so the restoring of that trust is absolutely vital.

"A lot of people around the country who say they're going to vote Reform believe that we're pretty much the last shot, pretty much the last shot, that if we don't win that election and start putting in place some of the very necessary changes that are needed, then goodness only knows what this country will look like in 10 years time.

"Goodness only knows how many more talented people will have left, not just the ultra rich, but the young, ambitious, hard working, so it is vital that we do this."