Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has announced a sweeping plan to deport more than 750,000 undocumented migrants if her party returns to power, describing it as Britain’s toughest-ever border policy.
Her new Borders Plan proposes a US-style Removals Force, modelled on Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The new unit would replace Home Office enforcement teams, with funding doubled from £800 million to £1.6 billion to boost deportations from 34,000 to 150,000 a year.
“We must tackle the scourge of illegal immigration into Britain and secure our borders,” Badenoch said. “This is a serious and comprehensive plan to end this crisis once and for all.”
The plan also includes withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe’s trafficking treaty, which Badenoch argues have long obstructed deportations. Other measures include a total asylum ban for illegal entrants, ending legal aid in immigration cases, deporting foreign criminals within a week, and imposing visa or aid restrictions on countries that refuse to take back their citizens.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for EU Relations, criticised the proposal as “an isolationist fantasy,” accusing Badenoch of offering “the same fake fix” as right-wing populists.
“We’ve spent our time in opposition forensically analysing every element of the immigration system,” a senior Conservative insider said. “This isn’t about slogans it’s about real reform.”
With Reform UK polling twice as high as the Conservatives, Badenoch’s hardline stance is seen as an attempt to win back disillusioned voters and revive her party’s fortunes.
