Reform UK has announced a controversial policy to prioritise the siting of migrant detention centres in areas represented by Green MPs or councils, just days before local elections. Shadow home secretary Zia Yusuf made the announcement in a video filmed on Brighton beach, stating that areas like Brighton would be prioritised. The party also launched a webpage allowing voters to check if their postcode is on the list for a potential detention centre.
The policy has been condemned by political opponents, with the Greens and Labour describing it as 'disgusting' and 'grotesque', while the Conservatives dismissed it as 'not a serious policy' and 'made up on the spot 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 at a general election.
The policy appears designed to sharpen dividing lines between Reform and the Greens ahead of the local elections. A party insider suggested the policy was largely devised in Yusuf's office, with the aim of establishing Reform and the Greens as the two main choices for voters. Yusuf has previously challenged Green leader Zack Polanski to a debate, without success.
Reform's core deportation policy, outlined in its 'Operation Restoring Justice' document last August, pledges to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, pay regimes such as the Taliban to take them back, and scrap postwar human rights commitments. The new announcement marks a shift from the original plan to build detention centres in remote parts of the country.
