Reform UK has ignited controversy by announcing that a future government under its leadership would prioritise building migrant detention centres in areas represented by Green MPs or councils. The policy, unveiled by shadow home secretary Zia Yusuf in a video filmed on Brighton beachfront, is seen as a deliberate attempt to sharpen political dividing lines ahead of local elections.
Yusuf’s announcement was accompanied by a webpage allowing voters to check whether their postcode is on a list of areas “prioritised” for a detention centre. For example, entering the postcode of Hackney town hall – where the Greens are tipped to make gains – triggers a warning: “Yes – on the list. Your area will be prioritised to receive a detention centre under this policy.”
The policy has drawn condemnation from across the political spectrum. The Greens and Labour described it as “disgusting” and “grotesque”, while the Conservatives dismissed it as “not a serious policy” made up for a social media video. Imran Hussain of the Refugee Council called it “unworkable and profoundly un-British”. YouGov polling found that 45% of adults considered it unacceptable for a government to base constituency decisions on which party voters supported, including 37% of Reform’s own voters.
Reform’s strategy appears twofold: to generate attention on social media – Yusuf’s Brighton video garnered 3.7 million views on X – and to position Reform and the Greens as the two main choices for voters in the English council elections. Yusuf said the “failed uniparty era is over” and framed the contest as a “battle for the soul of our country”. The policy also aims to energise Reform’s base by stoking outrage, according to former Blair adviser John McTernan, who noted that in low-turnout local elections, “this is about ensuring that their voters continue to have something to feel strongly about”.
Reform’s core deportation policy, outlined in August 2024 under “Operation Restoring Justice”, pledged to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, pay regimes like the Taliban to take them back, and scrap postwar human rights commitments. The new detention centre plan marks a shift from that document, which originally proposed building Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRCs) in “remote parts of the country”. It remains unclear whether the change was informed by focus groups, though the party has significant funding for such research.
