Farage U-Turns on Mass Deportations

Despite recent by-election successes and a healthy lead in the opinion polls, many die-hard Nigel Farage / Reform UK supporters have lost heart of late. The reason is simple: Farage’s Achilles’ heel of Islam, and his blanket refusal to promise mass deportations. The two, naturally, are inextricably linked. The UK Muslim population is not only growing ten times faster than the rest of society, but immigration estimates to Britain suggest that almost half is Islamic. This has lead some to question just how serious Nigel is about ‘saving Britain’, with former favourites Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib otherwise engaged keeping him honest. 

However, Farage has upped his game recently; he’s had to. Public opinion has shifted dramatically since Labour came to power. A year ago, 66% of Brits believed immigration to Britain was too high. After 12 months of Starmer, that dissatisfaction has grown to 73% – the highest since records began.  

Of course, Farage is not the only one to spot the Overton window shifting in real time. It is not without a degree of schadenfreude that we now witness pro-immigration politicians trying to talk tough. Kemi ‘I don’t mind people taking the piss for 14 years, but after that I get really angry’ Badenoch is promising ‘net zero immigration’. David Blunkett has suggested the government suspend the European Convention on Human Rights, in order to ‘get a grip’ on the migrant crisis – which makes you genuinely wonder why no one else has thought of that. 

Keir Starmer’s Home Office meanwhile is really pushing the boat out, promising “More rigorous English language rules for new migrants will ensure they fully integrate and contribute to British life and the economy.” The English middle-classes don’t really mind their daughters being gang-raped you understand, but there is a certain embarrassment at dinner parties when the perpetrators don’t have cut-glass accents. Personally, I can’t wait for the 2029 Corbyn / Sultana Manifesto – mandatory beheadings for illegals as well as infidels! 

Nonetheless, while Farage is talking a good game perhaps it’s best not to interrupt him. On Tuesday, the Reform UK leader will publish his plans for the mass deportation of illegals. Thanks to The Times, we have a précis of what to expect. 

Here are the key points: 

Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping the Human Rights Act

Farage is promising to arrest asylum seekers upon arrival. This will include automatic detention and forced deportation to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea – with no right of appeal. There would also be a ‘fallback’ option – reopening the Tories’ Rwanda policy, or possibly employing British overseas territories such as Ascension Island. 

According to Farage, “The aim of this legislation is mass deportations. We have a massive crisis in Britain. It is not only posing a national security threat but it’s leading to public anger that frankly is not very far away from disorder. There is only one way to stop people coming into Britain and that is to detain them and deport them.”

In terms of practicality, Farage insists this is “not a very difficult thing to do”. He adds, “There isn’t any renegotiation agreement that needs to be done or anything like that. This can be done reasonably quickly.”

UK government bodies will be required to share data automatically 

To aid in the location and arrest of illegal immigrants, bodies such as the NHS, HM Revenue and Customs and the DVLA will be required to share data automatically (how is this not already the case?!). 

Introduce a British Bill of Rights 

This is the second part of Reform’s plan. In lieu of ‘human rights’, Farage would place terms such as ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom of expression’ at the heart of legislation. In explanation, Farage states “The freedom to do everything, unless there’s a law that says you can’t – the opposite to that is the concept of human rights, which are state-given.”

In addition, Britain would also derogate from the Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and the Council of Europe’s anti-trafficking convention. This is necessary according to Farage, because Britain is facing “a state of emergency”. 

Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill

As part of ‘Operation Restoring Justice’, a Reform government would build prefabricated detention centres on disused military bases, capable of holding 24,000 people. Residents would have no right to claim asylum, and while treated with a ‘degree of civility’, would not be allowed to leave. Farage believes people could be deported within 30 days. 

Farage explains, “We have enormous muscle on these things. We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries. But all the diplomatic levers that we have, if we have to use them, on visas, on trade, sanctions … I mean, Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively.”

The risk to those deported

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world. Who is our priority? Is it the safety and security of this country and its people? Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to. Whose side are you on? There is no particular reason why they should be tortured because they have gone back. But, look, I can’t be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets.”

The cost

Farage plans to implement a ‘carrot and stick approach’. Illegals would be able to take voluntary deportation via an app, and be given a free flight and £2,500 to leave the country. The flights would be chartered five times a day. 

“The carrot is very, very clear,” argues Farage. “If you’re here illegally, we’re coming for you. We will remove you. But what we can do is help you go back to where you came from, put two and a half thousand quid in your pocket, not charge you an airfare to go. And I think quite a few might take that option.”

Farage claims the policy will cost £10 billion over five years, set against the £7 billion annual cost of illegal immigration – a figure, Farage takes issue with: 

“The illegal migrant crisis is costing £7 billion a year. But the truth is that doesn’t even get close to what it’s really costing us, what it’s costing the NHS. The fact they have to provide free healthcare. The fact that NHS dentists have to be on hand. The police time for those that commit wrongs. You know, we are talking here about a massive, massive financial problem, far bigger than we’re saying in this document, far bigger than we’re saying. And our hope would be that it would actually suit the NHS to co-operate with us on this.”

Crackdown on the black economy

Reform would also pursue a major assault on workers in the black economy, requiring the NHS and other public bodies to provide information to assist in the tracking and detainment of illegal workers. 

Much like his recent intervention on law and order, I welcome these proposals from Farage. However, much as I want to be ‘wrong’ about him, I cannot help the suspicion that his courage comes not from his own heart, but on the backs of the working-class. Real leaders set the agenda – I can’t imagine Thatcher announcing policy on the say-so of a focus group or YouGov poll. How much faith can we have in a man who only stands firm when he knows which way the wind is blowing?

For my money, the credit for this u-turn lies firmly with the people of Britain. Everyone who protested against migrant hotels. Everyone who held up a flag, regardless of the ‘racist’ smears. Every Peter Lynch, Lucy Connolly and Tommy Robinson – slagged off and vilified as ‘far-right’ for years, only to be finally ‘endorsed’ by politicians desperate to cling to office. 

As Milton Friedman famously put it, “The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing.” Farage may or may not be the right person come 2029. But even if he is the wrong person, right now he’s making the right noises. 

 

Frank Haviland is the author of Banalysis: The Lie Destroying the West and The Frank Report, which you should probably subscribe to.

 

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(Photograph: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)