Overview

• At a Broxburn press conference, Nigel Farage said the plan now focuses on deporting "illegal males" and is not discussing women and children over the next five years, after previously saying everyone on arrival would be detained.
• Reform UK's Operation Restoring Justice targets up to 600,000 removals over five years, expands detention capacity to 24,000, and pursues return deals with Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea.
• Labour’s EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds warned the proposals would cost UK trade about £9bn and increase red tape, arguing they threaten recent cooperation with the EU.
• Reuters reported the programme would require leaving the ECHR and disapplying refugee, trafficking and torture conventions, with lawyers noting UK common law could still block removals and raising concerns over implications for the Good Friday framework.
• Reform estimates £10bn over five years, but external analysis suggests far higher annual costs for flights and facility conversion, as critics across parties and charities condemn the legality, ethics and feasibility of striking deals with regimes such as the Taliban.