'You don’t have to like them’: Reform UK open to migrant deportation deal with Taliban
Richard Tice has told LBC he is open to forming a deportation deal with the Taliban.
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The Deputy Leader of Reform UK told Nick Ferrari "sometimes you have to do business with people that you may not like".
As part of Reform's proposed migrant policy, Nigel Farage announced the party would set aside £2 billion to be used as financial incentive to foreign governments - including the Taliban - to accept returned migrants and asylum seekers.
The UK has not recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan since the group seized Kabul in 2021 and re-established a regime based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported a senior official say they would be "ready and willing" to work with Reform.
On Wednesday morning, the MP for Boston and Skegness told Ferrari: "If we want a ceasefire in Gaza, you've got to do a deal with Hamas. If you want a ceasefire in Ukraine, you've got to do a deal with Putin.
"These are not nice people. But leadership is about taking difficult decisions."
Mr Tice did not dispute whether he felt comfortable sending female asylum seekers back to Sudan where they may face rape.
"Regrettably, some of these illegal migrants who have come to this country have raped British women and British girls.
"And the role of a British government is to defend the British people.
"Sometimes you have to do business with people you may not like."
He added the UK cannot control "despotic regimes around the world".
On Tuesday, the Mr Farage 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.
Read More: Nigel Farage’s mass deportations plans ‘uncosted and unconstructed’, Home Office minister says
The party leader 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.”
However, these proposed costs have been disputed. 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,” the veteran politician said.
In the 12 months up to June 2025, Afghans made up 15% of small boat arrivals - the most common nationality arriving by that method ahead of Eritreans, Iranians and Syrians.
The UK has not recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan since the group seized Kabul in 2021 and re-established a regime based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
But the Government does pursue a policy of "limited and pragmatic" engagement with Taliban officials through the Qatar-based UK Mission to Afghanistan when it is deemed to be in the national interest.
In July, the ICC has said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe two leaders of the Taliban have enforced a number of restrictions on women, including barring them from many jobs, and also preventing girls over 12 accessing education.
There have also been restrictions on how far a woman can travel without a male chaperone, and decrees on them raising their voices in public.