Reform UK said it would suspend the UK’s asylum system for up to five years if it wins the next general election, in an escalation of its anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The right-wing party led by Nigel Farage would void all current and new applications, making anyone awaiting a decision on their UK asylum claim immediately liable for deportation.
Announcing the new policy in a press conference in south east England on Monday, Farage said any country refusing to take back migrants would be threatened with trade tariffs or the seizure of their UK assets.
“We cannot accept more asylum seekers while we still have no idea how many people are in the country illegally and the threat they pose,” Farage said.
Reform, which rose to prominence on the back of anti-immigrant rhetoric, has been trying to drive up the salience of the theme as its poll ratings have dipped, following a series of revelations in the press about its funding.
The hardening of its proposal arrives while the traditional party of the right, the Conservative opposition, appears to have de-prioritized the culture-war issues on which it had been battling the insurgent party. At the Tories’ annual conference earlier this month Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch sought to emphasize sound economic management, where last year she talked about stronger borders.
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Reform has meanwhile sought to focus on the number of people claiming asylum after crossing the English Channel on dinghies — 20,935 have arrived so far in 2026, a number that represents a steep fall from last year, after the Labour government’s efforts to tackle people-smuggling.
Reform’s latest plans are likely to anger refugee charities and human-rights advocates who say the UK should do more to help those fleeing war and persecution. The proposals would also likely cause a rift in the UK’s relationship with the European Union, which is still seeing a steady flow of asylum seekers enter its borders.
The UK Home Office and Ministry of Justice spent around £4.9 billion ($6.5 billion) on the issue in 2024-5, according to parliamentary records. Last year the government announced plans to reduce that figure by £1 billion by 2028-9.
The next general election in the UK is due to take place in mid-2029 at the latest. Under Reform’s plans, any legal resettlement routes — such as those recently proposed by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for Afghan women and Palestinians — would be abolished, and those who used those routes would be eligible for deportation. That would exclude Ukrainians who arrived in the UK since 2022 under the humanitarian route.