Overview
- Sir Ed Davey said the party would use emergency powers under the Civil Contingencies Act to set up large-scale processing centres, hire and train more caseworkers, and clear the asylum backlog quickly.
- The plan pairs faster decisions with deportations for those without the right to stay and work rights for those granted protection, with Davey adopting tougher language including a pledge to “stop the boats.”
- Davey accused Nigel Farage of being “not a patriot” and portrayed Reform UK as out of step with British values, as activists handed out “plastic patriot” Farage figurines and the leader questioned broadcasters’ focus on him.
- Protesters gathered outside Bournemouth’s Roundhouse Hotel used for asylum seekers, facing counter‑demonstrators separated by police, underscoring the charged local mood during the conference.
- Davey led a marching band into the venue in a show of patriotic branding, brushed off reports of internal discomfort with such stunts, and argued the party’s 72 MPs and local gains position it to peel voters from Reform and disaffected Conservatives.