Nigel Farage’s claim that Reform UK’s proposal for the mass deportation of refugees will save more than £100bn is not “remotely credible”, experts have warned.
Reform UK has vowed to review every successful asylum in the past five years and remove anyone found to have entered the country on a small boat or overstayed their visa, under its plans for an ICE-style deportation agency.
The party estimates that 400,000 people would be affected, with the majority deported, saving £14.3bn over the next five-year parliament and £137bn overall.
But Jonathan Portes, economics professor at King’s College London and the former chief economist at the Cabinet Office, told The Independent the numbers “don’t appear remotely credible”.
The Refugee Council also said reassessing hundreds of thousands of asylum decisions was “not a serious or workable plan” and would be extremely expensive.
Imran Hussain, the group’s director of external affairs, said: “Reopening and reassessing hundreds of thousands of asylum decisions would overwhelm the system, which is already struggling, tie up the courts for years, and cost taxpayers tens of billions.”
He added: “Punishing refugees for the way they entered this country also makes little sense when there are no safe and legal routes available for most people seeking asylum to get to the UK.
“Many of the men, women and children targeted by these proposals have already been recognised as refugees because they have fled humanitarian disasters and brutal regimes in countries like Sudan and Afghanistan. For many people we work with, being granted refugee status in Britain saved their lives, and they have gone on to give back to the UK by working in our NHS, our care homes, or our high streets.”
At a press conference in Westminster, Mr Farage and Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, also doubled down on their claims that previous governments have presided over “an invasion of Britain”.
Reform has already pledged to identify and deport all illegal migrants in the UK, as well as leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is often used by people to claim asylum.
The party has said it would aim to deport 188,000 illegal migrants a year by operating five removal flights a day.
Also during the press conference, Mr Farage was asked about reports that Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, failed to pay almost £100,000 in corporation tax.
Reports have suggested Mr Tice’s accounts were not audited, but Mr Farage insisted his tax affairs were run by “professional accountants”.
He added: “It’s very easy to throw accusations around about people’s tax.
“All I would say to you is that Richard Tice has had a long, distinguished career in business, and if there’s an error, if his accountants have made an error, he will put it right. But I very, very much doubt that will be the case.”
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said: “Nigel Farage can deflect all he likes, but the fact is, his deputy has failed to pay tax. This is a serious scandal, and Reform’s leadership are in complete denial.
“This isn’t going away. Richard Tice has demanded that others resign over smaller tax errors, and now he believes the rules don’t apply to him. Tice must pay what he owes and face the consequences.”
