Overview
- Policy chief Zia Yusuf said adults convicted of raping a child would receive whole-life orders with no chance of parole if the party forms a government.
- Reform UK says the measure would cover offenders aged 18 or over at the time of the crime, with intentions to extend it to historic offences subject to consultation.
- The party estimates roughly 500 additional prisoners each year under the plan, which would significantly increase long-term incarceration.
- To address capacity, Reform proposes deporting foreign national offenders and building new Nightingale prisons on Ministry of Defence land, citing a target of 12,400 extra places.
- Current law sets no statutory minimum for these offences and reserves whole-life terms for rare cases, with 677 child-rape convictions recorded in 2024 and 70 whole-life prisoners as of March 2025.