Nigel Farage Pledges Five-Year Suspension of UK Asylum System
Nigel Farage announced a plan to suspend the United Kingdom's asylum system for five years, banning new grants and voiding current applications if Reform UK is elected.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage announced a pledge to suspend the United Kingdom's asylum system for five years if his party wins the next election. The proposal would ban all new asylum grants for a full parliamentary term, void existing applications, and scrap all asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes, and resettlement schemes.
Under the plan, the government would ignore approximately 90,000 outstanding asylum and humanitarian protection appeals to facilitate immediate deportations. Farage also intends to review the cases of refugees granted asylum within the last five years. To ensure other nations accept deportees, Reform UK proposes using tariffs, airline bans, and visa freezes as leverage.
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson condemned the proposal as an assault on common values and suggested Farage is adopting extreme policies to distract from scandals and police investigations. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp argued that banning illegal immigration asylum claims and abolishing tribunals are already existing Conservative policies, though he claimed the Conservative BORDERS plan is more comprehensive regarding removal timelines and the European Convention on Human Rights.
