Reform Pledges Full-Term UK Asylum Suspension

On October 12, 2026 in Hythe, Kent, Nigel Farage said a Reform government would suspend the UK asylum system for a full parliamentary term of up to five years, void roughly 90,000 pending applications and appeals, and deport the claimants. Reform would abolish asylum tribunals, legal refugee routes and resettlement schemes, review refugee status granted in the past five years potentially affecting around 400,000 people, withdraw from the ECHR, repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention. Ukrainian refugees who arrived after Russia's 2022 invasion are excluded. Farage said the country is facing a national security emergency and Reform will put British people first. Zia Yusuf said the party must prioritise British people, fraud is rampant, and cited Obama-era deportations as precedent. Bridget Phillipson said Farage was casting around for more extreme policies amid scandals, police investigations and a challenge from Restore, calling it a carbon copy of their policy. Chris Philp said banning asylum claims by illegal immigrants, abolishing the immigration tribunal and ending Labour resettlement routes are existing Conservative policy. Britain received 85,891 asylum applicants in the year ending June, a 21 percent decrease. The next election is due in 2029.