Reform UK’s plan is ‘for the birds’
Reform UK’s plans to tackle illegal migration do not sound feasible, a minister has said.
“(It) strikes me as something put together on the back of a fag packet,” Matthew Pennycook told Sky News. He said Reform UK’s idea of securing returns agreements with countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea is “for the birds”.
“And what happens if returns agreements are not secured with Eritrea or Sudan? Where do the planes go? What does Reform think is going to happen in the case of Iran, a country that we’re currently sanctioning, they’re just going to agree a returns agreement?
“So we will get on with the practical, hard-headed, unglamorous, step-by-step actions we’re taking to bear down on this problem, rather than the gimmicks being put forward by Reform and other parties.”
He added of Reform UK’s plans to strike returns agreements: “I don’t think they sound feasible. So Reform can stoke anger. We will get on with the job of putting in place the necessary practical measures that will see net migration come down over this parliament and the gangs and the boat problem tackled.”