For three decades successive governments have promised to "get tough" on illegal immigration yet the estimated population of people with no lawful right to remain in the United Kingdom almost certainly stands above 1,000,000.
Operating Restore Justice is Reform UK's answer: a five-year emergency program intended to identify, detain and deport illegal migrants in the United Kingdom, and to deter any future build-up by demonstrating that unlawful presence now has an iron-clad consequence : swift removal. The plan combines an uncompromisinglegal reset with national scale enforcement through a new Deportation Command and a rentless foreign-policy campaign. Illegal migrants will be detained and deported.
On a net basis the program will save the taxpayer tens of billions over the next decade, and hundreds of billions over the next several decades. The gross implementation cost will be c.10 billion over five years, but the current status quo already burns through over £7 billion per year, excluding many hidden costs such as the burden on the NHS. The net saving during the first five years of a Reform government will thus be over £7 billion. This expands to £42 billion over the first decade.
A Reform government will show unflinching resolve to ensure deportations are prioritised, will eliminate an open-ended drain on the exchequer and re-establish border sovereignty which underpins every other area of policy. On this foundation, Britain can build to become secure, prosperous and powerful again.
Upon winning a general election, a Reform government under prime minister Nigel Farage will:
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- ) Leave the ECHR.
- ) Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Right.
- ) Pass the Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill:
This bill will:
Create a legal requirement to remove illegal migrants for the Home Secretary.
The bill opens with a blunt obligation for the Home Secretary: "The Secretary of State shall ensure the removal from the United Kingdom of each person who does not have extant leave to remain and is not Irish citizen or otherwise protected by regulations made under this Act."
The following parts of the legislation are introduced on an emergency basis, with an in-built sunset clause after 5 years:
Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention against Torture, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention (ECAT).
Derogation is justified under the Vienna Convention doctrine of state of necessity: Britain faces a national emergency in which uncontrolled illegal migration underminds public order.
These treaties otherwise be used by activist judges to frustrate deportations, even after the repeals of the HRA and ECHR.
Create detention power without Hardial Singh constraints
This means illegal migrants can be detained until they are deported. Activist lawyers routinely use Hardial Singh to secure their client's bail, after which the client absconds.
If you came to the UK illegally, you are ineligible for asylum. End of story
All asylum claims will become inadmissible if made by a person within the Act's scope. If you came to the country illegally, you are ineligible for asylum in the UK. This strips the Home Office, the immigration tribunals and the higher courts of jurisdiction to even consider claims. A claim that cannot be considered cannot suspend removal and therefore, cannot delay a flight.
Re-entering after deportation and destroying ID becomes a serious criminal offence
Re-entry after deportation will become a criminal offence. It will become a criminal offence to deliberately destroy your identity documents. Both offences with be punishable up to 5 years in prison.
Lifetime re-entry ban
Everyone deported will be banned from re-entering for life.
We will create an enforcement unit called UK Deportation Command, including an illegal Migrant Identification Centre - harnessing cutting edge data fusion
A Reform government will create a cutting edge enforcement data centre to relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police. It will power bulk warrents, including mandatory biometric capture during any police encounter. Each power address a failure mode observed over the past decade - for example, banks and GP surgeries unaware of a customer's status or overstayers slipping through because a warrent covered only a single property.
Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRC) will be built rapidly to detain up to 24,000
Detention capacity for up to 24,000 will be created within 18 months. The Home Office will build Secure Immigration Removeal Centres. This will be modular accomadation built in remote parts of the country. Conditions are basic but not punitive: prefabricated two-person rooms, canteen catering, on-site medical suites. Robust perimeters and internal movement controls prevent escapes. This enables detention on arrest: no more bail. This capacity would allow for up to 24,000 illegal migrants to be deported per month
Initial Voluntary Return Window
A six month Assisted Voluntary Return window precedes large-scale raids. Illegal migrants will be offered a financial incentive to self-deport. An app will be launched to facilitate this.
The Deportation Flights
The Home Office will scale up charters to 5 flights per day. To guard against last-minute aircraft unserviceability, the RAF will keep one voyager aircraft on six-hour 'hot-spare' readiness. If a commercial charter breaks down, detainees can still be flown out that night, preserving operational integrity. The legal reset will mean activist lawyers will no longer be able to prevent flights from departing.
Return Agreements
As Prime Minister, Nigel Farage will ensure the Foreign Office makes it highest priority the securing of return agreements with all relevent countries to take bake their illegal migrants. Consulates will also be required to send staff to assist in identifying illegal migrants. Countries of origin are triaged into three diplomatic tracks based on current diplomatic relations. A carrot and stick approach will be used. Aid will be offered as an incentive, the stick will involve the cessation of visa approvals and potentially sanctions.
Third country partners
The Foreign Office will rapidly negotiate deals with third countries, and a budget has been allocated for this. British Overseas Terrotories also offer a strategic fallback. Ascension Island's isolated airfield can handle A330 aircraft, enabling rapid transfer of Channel arrivals.
All this will also mean new arrivals and boat crossings will stop almost immediately, as would-be illegal migrants will know they will simply be detained on arrival and deported with a lifetime ban on re-entry. The ultimate deterrent.
Reform's plan delivers a transformative legislative reset that ensures those here illegally will be deported at unprecidented speed and scale. The savings to the British taxpayer will be over £7 billion in the first term of a Reform government, and over £42 billion over a decade. Pressure on public services will be eased.
The United Kingdom will once again be a sovereign nation with total control over it's borders, and the rule of law will prevail. In that restored sovereignty lies the foundation of the country's next chapter.
One in which Britain is secure, prosperous and powerful again.
