Nigel Farage has announced a series of tough-on-crime measures that will include sending Britain’s worst offenders to serve out their sentences in tough foreign prisons.
In a speech in London, the Reform UK leader unveiled plans to rent jail space in other countries, including El Salvador and Albania, if his party comes to power after the next general election.
Among his promises was a pledge to recruit 30,000 new police officers over five years, scrap any force diversity quotas, end early release for prisoners convicted of serious violent, sexual or knife offences and deport 10,400 foreign offenders currently in UK jails.
Mr Farage was joined by MP Sarah Pochin and Westminster councillor Laila Cunningham as he proposed a major prison-building programme aiming to provide an extra 30,000 places to alleviate the overcrowding that prompted the Government to expand early release schemes.
He said that Reform would be "the toughest party on law and order".
"We will cut crime in half,” he added. “We will take back control of our streets, we will take back control of our courts and prisons."
His speech comes amid rising concern about crime in Britain. A Survation poll, published by The Sun On Sunday, found 49% of people thought the UK was "becoming a lawless country".
Mr Farage said there would be no need to raise taxes to pay for tackling crime and the policies would be paid for my making state savings, including scrapping net zero strategies.
According to a document handed out at the press conference room, Reform estimate that the total cost of halving crime would be £17.4 billion over a five-year parliament, with an annual cost of £3.48 billion.
But Reform still face questions over how the party will pay for the plans, given that its MPs have already made significant spending promises and the need to negotiate returns agreements for foreign offenders.
Overall, crime has generally fallen over the past decade. However, it rose last year driven mainly by sharp increases in fraud, computer misuse and theft cases.
Mr Farage pointed to shoplifting in London rising over 150% since 2021.
Over the last decade, there has been a gradual decrease in domestic abuse. But sexual assault offences have increased, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said: "If Nigel Farage was serious about making our streets safer, he should have backed the tough new laws we introduced earlier this year.
"It's shameful that Reform constantly seeks to undermine confidence in our police and criminal justice system and voted to try to block measures to crack down on knife crime, anti-social behaviour, shop theft, child sexual abuse, and long overdue action to tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls.
"They should focus more on practical solutions to support our police, combat crime, deliver justice for victims of crime, rather than chasing headlines, spouting slogans and trying to divide communities."
