"Halfway into his press conference on Tuesday during which he announced his party would deport asylum seekers en masse if it entered government Nigel Farage sounded a note of triumphalism. One of the most interesting things about this press conference is the questions being asked are about the practicalities of individual pieces of implementation, he said. What I notice is there is very little pushback from the media against the idea that we really are in very, very big trouble in this country."
"At the heart of the Reform leader's speech was a political gamble. In the past, Farage has been sparing in his use of hardline rhetoric around migration, cautious not to get too close to the arguments of the far right. On Tuesday, however, he cut loose, describing irregular migration as an invasion and a scourge, referring to men who cross the Channel repeatedly as being of fighting age, and saying: We are not far away from major civil disorder."
"Asked by the Guardian for example why he had costed his plan at 10bn, when the Centre for Migration Control had estimated a near-identical plan would cost 47.5bn, Farage said dismissively: Zia [Yusuf, his Reform colleague] is really good at maths."
Nigel Farage announced his party would deport asylum seekers en masse if it entered government. He used hardline rhetoric, calling irregular migration an invasion and a scourge, labeling repeat Channel crossers as of fighting age and warning of potential major civil disorder. He also noted limited media pushback and emphasized questions focused on implementation practicalities. Reform sits around 10 points ahead in polls, creating a dilemma between sustaining a firebrand populist image and appearing statesmanlike for government. Some colleagues portrayed the plan as thought-through policy; others said Farage prioritized political advantage over implementability. He dismissed higher cost estimates as irrelevant.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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