Nigel Farage has unveiled a radical plan to tackle the UK's prison overcrowding crisis, calling for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act and withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Reform UK leader said this would allow the deportation of an estimated 10,500 foreign criminals currently in British prisons, freeing up space for UK offenders.
Writing exclusively in the Daily Express, Farage lambasted Labour's early release scheme as 'a national disgrace' and promised to scrap it entirely if his party wins the next general election. He proposed building 'Nightingale Prisons' on Ministry of Defence land within 18 months, using low-cost, high-security, prefabricated structures, and converting disused military barracks into additional prison spaces.
Reform UK has appointed former prison governor Vanessa Frake as a justice adviser. She blamed the overcrowding crisis on '30 years of ignorance' by successive governments and criticised Labour's initial plan to release up to 6,000 criminals—including violent offenders—under the new Sentencing Act. The scheme has since been paused by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham following public outcry.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch expressed support for the idea of Nightingale prisons but opposed releasing serious offenders. A Labour source dismissed the concept of 'pop-up prisons', questioning their feasibility. The debate comes amid public anger over the potential early release of prisoners convicted of violent crimes, including those involved in the death of police officer Andrew Harper.
