Reform threaten to put immigration removal centres in Green Party-controlled areas

George Lithgow, Press Association Political and Home Affairs Correspondent

Reform UK has said it will prioritise setting up immigration removal centres in areas controlled by the Greens because of the party’s open borders policy.

Areas that vote in a Reform council or a Reform MP would be guaranteed not to have a centre nearby, Nigel Farage’s party said.

The Greens described the announcement as “abhorrent”.

Announcing the policy in a social media video, Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, said people will get “what they vote for”.

“Zack and his Green Party say they want Britain to have no borders at all,” he said.

“A Reform government will not put any migrant detention centres in any constituency with a reform MP.

“We will not put them where Reform controls the council, and of the remaining areas, we will prioritise Green parliamentary constituencies and Green controlled councils to put those migrant detention centres.”

His party has pledged to deport up to 288,000 illegal migrants a year if it wins the next general election.

This would include creating an agency to carry out mass deportations akin to US President Donald Trump’s Ice programme.

Speaking about the proposed immigration centres in the video, he said: “Migrants will not be able to leave these detention centres, and each will be held there for a couple of weeks before being deported.”

Responding to the announcement, which came in the days before Thursday’s elections, Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali said: “Reform keep making abhorrent announcements to distract voters from they fact they want to privatise the NHS.

“Greens are focused on building council housing, fixing our public services and bringing down the cost of living.”