Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has confirmed his government would deport Afghan women who cross the Channel on small boats back to their country of origin. This is the first time he has confirmed that women would fall under his party’s mass deportations policy.
During an interview with Sky News, he was repeatedly pressed to give an answer to whether he would return Afghan women back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Taliban are notorious for their brutal, oppressive treatment of women. In response, Mr Farage told the channel: “For clarity, those that cross the English Channel will be detained and deported, men and women. Children, we’ll have to think about.”
In a separate interview with the BBC, the architect of Brexit rowed back on a pledge he made in his conference speech on Friday to stop small boats within two weeks of taking power. Clarifying his position, he said the boats would be stopped for good two weeks after the necessary legislation was passed.
The GB News presenter added he would mimic the approach to small boat arrivals of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who stopped migrant vessels arriving from Indonesia in 2013. Mr Abbott’s policy involved returning migrants to their country of origin or detaining them on overseas islands.
What do you think? Should women and children be deported from the UK if they have arrived illegally?
Mr Farage said: “As soon as the law is in place. As soon as you have the ability to detain and deport, you’ll stop it in two weeks.”
The Reform UK leader had told an audience at the NEC in Birmingham on Friday he would halt arrivals within a fortnight of entering Downing Street.
He said: “We will stop the boats and we will detain and deport those who illegally break into our country doing what nearly every normal country around the rest of the world does.”
During the conference, Mr Farage introduced new recruit Nadine Dorries, who defected from the Tories.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the ex-MP for Mid-Bedfordshire said: “The Tory Party is dead. Its members now need to think the unthinkable and look to the future.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We wish Nadine well.”