Overview

• Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” targets up to 600,000 removals in five years, expands detention capacity to about 24,000, replaces the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, and seeks return deals with countries including Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran.
• Nigel Farage clarified that the initial focus would be on deporting adult men after previously saying women and children would also be detained on arrival, adding that they are not part of the party’s five‑year plan at this stage.
• Implementing the strategy would require leaving or disapplying the ECHR, the Refugee Convention, the anti‑trafficking convention, the UN torture convention and the ICCPR, raising concerns about conflicts with the Good Friday Agreement and potential court challenges under common law.
• Analysts highlight a vast feasibility gap, noting current detention capacity of roughly 2,500 and about 8,200 forced deportations last year, as independent costings suggest far higher expenses than Reform’s £10bn five‑year estimate.
• Labour minister Nick Thomas‑Symonds says the approach would damage trade by around £9bn, while opposition politicians and local leaders condemn the plans as unworkable and harmful, and the government offers only limited pushback on Farage’s rhetoric.