KEIR Starmer has refused to criticise Nigel Farage’s speech, where he outlined his plans to deport 600,000 asylum seekers, which he called a “genuine threat to public order”.
The Reform UK leader described his “Operation Restoring Justice” as a five-year emergency programme where his party would seek to secure deals with countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran to return migrants.
However, when asked by journalists how much he would be prepared to pay to Iran and the Taliban to take deportees back, Farage failed to answer.
Reform UK’s programme would see up to five deportation flights a day, resulting in around 500,000 to 600,000 people being forced to leave the UK in a bid to deter future arrivals if the party were to gain power, according to former Reform chair Zia Yusuf.
Reform’s leadership also said they would repeal the Human Rights Act, leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and disapply the 1951 refugee convention and UN convention against torture.
The plans to quit international treaties would mean that asylum seekers would be sent to countries where they face the prospect of torture.
Speaking at an event at London Oxford Airport, Farage said: “The mood in the country around this issue is a mix between total despair and rising anger.
“I would say this, that without action, without somehow the contract between the Government and the people being renewed, without some trust coming back, then I fear deeply that that anger will grow.
“In fact, I think there is now, as a result of this, a genuine threat to public order.”
According to the Guardian's deputy political editor in Westminster, Jessica Elgot, the Prime Minister has refused to criticise any of Farage’s speech on Tuesday.
She said: “No10 spokesman not prepared to criticise anything about Farage's speech today.
“Not his description of ‘invasion’, not his prediction that the UK on brink of civil war, not plans to pay the Taliban or Iran to take back migrants, or indeed to rule out doing so themselves.”
Farage said everyone who arrives on a small boat would be detained, including women and unaccompanied children, while Reform UK claimed the “Operation Restoring Justice” plan would cost £10 billion to implement.
Responding to Farage's speech, Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said: “Every time living standards fall, Nigel Farage blames migration.
“And every time, Keir Starmer nods along.
“People are struggling with the cost of living and blaming migration won’t fix that.
“Scotland deserves better - a fairer, wealthier, welcoming future with independence.”
Human rights lawyer Adam Wagner KC said Reform UK’s plans to deliver asylum seekers into the hands of violent regimes were not only “legally extreme” but fundamentally misleading.
“A lot of the rights contained in the European Convention come from British common law: the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and the right not to be tortured,” he said.
“Farage may believe repealing treaties clears the path for mass deportations, but UK courts are not bound to ignore centuries of legal tradition.”
Meanwhile, Kolbassia Haoussou, director of survivor leadership and influencing at Freedom from Torture, said that asylum seekers “desperately need” protection from the countries they are fleeing.
He said: “This is not who we are as a country. Here in the UK, public support for upholding the torture ban has grown significantly in recent years. People know that turning a blind eye is just not an option.
“Men, women and children are coming to the UK looking for safety. They are fleeing the unimaginable horrors of torture in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran. And they desperately need our protection.”
