Paying Taliban to take migrants ‘might be sensible transaction’, says Tice

Reform UK would consider paying the Taliban and the Iranian government to take deportees from Britain, the party’s deputy leader has said.

Richard Tice argued there was a “justification” for the move as it was “in the interests of the British people”, adding: “Sometimes you do deals with people you may not want to go down the pub with.”

Nigel Farage unveiled his party’s proposals for “mass deportations” at an event last week, saying this would see between 500,000 and 600,000 people removed from the UK over the first five years of a Reform government.

Hostile states

The party said it would set aside £2 billion to secure returns agreements with foreign governments, but neither Mr Farage nor former Reform chairman Zia Yusuf would say if this meant the party was willing to pay hostile states to take deportees.

In the 12 months to June 2025, Afghans made up 15% of people arriving in the UK via small boats – the most common nationality arriving by that method ahead of Eritreans, Iranians and Syrians.

Asked on Monday if Reform would pay the Taliban or Iran to take back deportees, Mr Tice told a press conference in Westminster: “When you’re in business, sometimes you do business with people that you may not like, but it might turn out to be a sensible transaction for both sides.

“If we want to return people to various countries such as Afghanistan, we’ve got to deal with the people who are leading that country.

“Here’s the real point, though. If it’s in the interests of the British people, and the role of the British government is to look after the interests of British citizens, then there’s a justification for doing it.

“As Nigel said quite rightly, we’re not responsible for all of the bad things that happen by bad leaders elsewhere in the world.

“Let’s just focus on running our own country properly, making people better-off, more prosperous with better public services.”

Deals

Mr Tice continued: “Sometimes you do deals with people you may not want to go down the pub with.”

Reform has already faced criticism over its suggestion that it could do a deal with the Taliban, which has been in power in Afghanistan since it seized control of Kabul in 2021 and re-established a regime based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

The Liberal Democrats accused the party of proposing a “Taliban tax” that involved “sending billions to an oppressive regime that British soldiers fought and died to defeat”.

Sending money to Iran is also likely to draw opposition, given the Tehran regime’s support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and its efforts to kill or kidnap people based in the UK.

In July, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee warned that the “physical threat” from Iran had “significantly increased” since 2022.