Reform to announce ‘visa freeze’ for some countries if deportees not accepted

Reform UK will impose “visa freezes” on countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if they refuse to take back migrants with no legal right to stay in Britain, Zia Yusuf is expected to announce.

The party’s new home affairs spokesman will unveil plans for the “immediate suspension of visa issuance” if the nations do not accept deportees, which would also apply to Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia.

Yusuf is expected to outline the proposals in a speech on Monday in Dover, where he will focus on immigration, policing, national security frameworks and “cultural preservation”.

Other home affairs policies he will set out include:

• A new rule mandating automatic home searches for anyone referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme by three “separate, corroborating authorities”.

• A “vast expansion” of stop and search powers, including “saturation policing” in high-crime areas.

• Immediate listed status granted to all churches to “legally prevent their conversion into mosques or other places of worship” as part of “protecting Britain’s Christian heritage”.

Reform is also pledging to replace indefinite leave to remain with a renewable five-year work visa and dedicated spouse visa and create a new agency with the capacity to detain 24,000 migrants at a time.

The party said costings would be set out at the event on Monday when asked for its calculations.

“For decades, the Tories and Labour have turned the other way while the very fabric of our society has been under assault,” Yusuf is expected to say.

“The social contract has not merely been broken; it’s been shattered. Under a Reform government, His Majesty’s parliament will be sovereign once again.

“We will secure our borders, leave the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and deport those here illegally. My message to the British people is simple: I will secure our borders and make you feel safe.”

Labour said Britain was a “proud, tolerant and diverse nation”, which stands in opposition to the “divisive politics stoked by Reform”.

Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: “Reform wants to divide our country, not deliver for the British people.

“Their plan to deport people who have followed the rules, worked hard and built their lives here – our friends, neighbours and colleagues – is a direct attack on settled families and fundamentally un-British.”

She added: “The British people are right to expect firm control of our borders – with clear rules about who can come here and swift action against those with no right to be here – alongside action to make our country safe – and that is what Labour is delivering.”

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