Farage’s asylum shutdown plan would scrap 90,000 pending appeals.
Reform UK has laid out a controversial new policy proposal to completely suspend the UK’s asylum system for a full parliamentary term if the party were to enter government. The sweeping plan, which aims to crack down on immigration, includes rejecting all new asylum applications and voiding existing ones.
Party leader Nigel Farage has claimed the UK is currently facing a “national security emergency,” insisting that the country cannot accept more asylum seekers while the true number of undocumented migrants remains unknown. According to Reform’s proposals, any claimants currently in the system would be marked for deportation.
A key aspect of this pledge is the intention to scrap the asylum tribunal system.
This system is responsible for hearing asylum appeal cases, and its closure would mean that claimants involved in more than 90,000 outstanding appeals would face immediate deportation instead of having their cases reviewed.
In addition to these measures, Reform has stated that no grants of humanitarian protection or refugee status would be issued during this five-year suspension. The party also plans to reassign Home Office staff currently overseeing asylum claims, redirecting their focus to reviewing and potentially overturning previous refugee grants.
To avoid legal challenges to these plans, Reform has outlined its intention to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), repeal the Human Rights Act 1998, and disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The proposals have drawn immediate criticism from across the political spectrum.
Labour chairperson Bridget Phillipson dismissed the plans as a “clear sign of desperation and weakness,” accusing Reform of abandoning basic decency and “escaping war and persecution” in a bid to win a “bidding war” with other right-wing parties. She argued that the British public would reject the policy as an assault on common values.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Reform of simply copying his party’s existing policies, maintaining that only the Conservatives possess a “serious and credible plan” to manage the UK’s borders. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson echoed the sentiment, blaming both Reform and the Conservatives for architecting a “failed asylum system” and exploiting it for political gain.
Reform’s strategy for dealing with deportations involves attempting to pressure other nations into accepting individuals marked for removal.
This would be achieved through the use of visa bans and tariffs on goods and services. Countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan, and Sudan could potentially face these measures. Should these initial sanctions fail, the party proposes further actions, including banning airlines from uncooperative countries from British airspace and preventing their citizens from transiting through the UK.
In cases where no country is willing to accept a deportee, or where it would be inappropriate to return an individual to their home country, Reform intends to negotiate alternative deals with third countries.
These latest pledges follow an earlier promise made by Reform in April, which proposed an immediate review of all asylum claims from the past five years if the party were to win a general election.
That plan could make around 400,000 people liable for deportation, targeting anyone who had been granted asylum, overstayed a visa, or originated from a country deemed safe.
The issue of small boat crossings remains a central focus, with Nigel Farage stating that stopping these crossings would be a priority for Reform’s first 100 days in power. Between January and early October 2026, over 20,000 individuals crossed the English Channel by small boat, though this figure represents a 40% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year. Both Labour and the Conservatives have also promised significant changes to the asylum system in response to these ongoing challenges.
