Farage confirms he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to Taliban in Afghanistan

Nigel Farage has confirmed he wants to deport women asylum seekers back to the Taliban in Afghanistan if he becomes prime minister.

The Reform UK leader’s position on the topic has not been clear, with him previously saying he wouldn’t send women back to the fundamentalist regime that took over after western militaries withdrew, before now saying he would.

Mr Farage was speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the Reform UK party conference in Birmingham.

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When asked if he would “detain” women and children and “send them back”, the Clacton MP said “yes”.

Challenged on when he said in August that he was not “discussing” women and children, Mr Farage claimed this was a reference to his desire to see men detained on arrival in the UK.

At the time, he said he was “very, very clear” on the “deportation of illegal immigrants”, adding: “We are not even discussing women and children at this stage – there are so many illegal males in Britain, and the news reports that said that after my conference yesterday were wrong”.

Speaking today, Mr Farage claimed that the UK has a “duty of care” to a child if, for example, a four-year-old arrives in a dinghy – but not to women and men.

“For clarity, those that cross the English Channel will be detained and deported, men and women,” Mr Farage went on.

“Children, we’ll have to think about.”

‘No one’ can prevent small boats crossing the Channel

The Reform leader also rowed back on his pledge to stop all boats within two weeks if he is elected prime minister.

Speaking to the conference yesterday, Mr Farage said: “You cannot come here illegally and stay – we will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

But speaking to Beth Rigby today, he changed tack – saying “the passing of legislation” would be required.

He said only then would the boats be stopped within two weeks, or sooner In the interview with Rigby, Mr Farage tried to claim he did not say he would end the boats within two weeks of “winning government”.

But the video of his speech, as well as the transcript released by Reform UK, clearly show him saying: “We will stop the boats within two weeks of winning government.”

When asked why he wouldn’t be able to follow through with his initial claim, Mr Farage said it was impossible and that “no one” can prevent them crossing the Channel.

The Reform UK leader said the law he wants to introduce will be called the Illegal Migration Act once it is passed by parliament.

He confirmed his agenda includes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, shutting down asylum hotels and housing people at RAF bases instead, as well as deporting Channel migrants.

Mr Farage also claimed that deportation flights would also begin within two weeks of the law changing, and this combination of factors would stop people from wanting to travel from France.

Reform doesn’t seem bothered about detail amongst their fireworks

Nigel Farage insists his policy on mass deportations is clear when it comes to women and girls.

But I’ve watched every Reform speech since they unveiled their flagship policy – and I was there in the room to ask him when he announced what he will do with women and children who come here via small boats if he was in power – and I still can’t work it out.

That’s because he’s said three different things since, including in an interview today.

Originally he said everyone would be detained: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained. And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”

A day later he said Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage” implying women and children would not be deported.

He also said it was “not true” that’s he had committed to sending women and girls back to countries where they can be raped, tortured and killed.

But today at their conference he told Sky News that women who arrive by boat will be deported to Afghanistan “if necessary”.

Considering Reform UK say they are willing to make deals with Afghanistan and Syria, this question is an important one. The UK has not recognised the Taliban as a legitimate government of Afghanistan since the group seized Kabul in 2021 and first established a regime based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has defended those plans, saying: “Sometimes you do deals with people you may not want to go down the pub with.”

Farage clarified that “children, of course, we’ll have to know that we’re sending them off somewhere sensible”.

He has also previously said asylum seekers were a threat to national security and to British women.

The broader political issue though, is that Reform’s immigration plan was meant to be a detailed and considered policy on an issue they’ve been ahead of other politicians on for years.

So why aren’t they more forthcoming with their answers on what they would do with women and children?

If they had hoped to truly embody their conference slogan of “next steps” to professionalise the party, they need to urgently address this.

But party members here don’t seem to be bothered by this detail amongst the fireworks, the enthusiasm and the energy here.

It turns out that years of banging on about this single issue for decades is Nigel Farage’s greatest strength – and the public are willing to give him the grace to work out the details later down the line.

This strategy all depends on Reform UK winning the next general election – which Labour does not have to call until 2029.

However, the Reform leader says he believes the government will collapse in 2027 due to economic pressure and other factors.

Reform are currently well clear of Labour and the Conservatives in the polling, and are targeting next year’s Welsh, Scottish and English local elections to try and win more power in councils and national assemblies.