Nigel Farage has adjusted his earlier statement about deporting “absolutely anyone” arriving in the UK on small boats, just a day after making the pledge during a contentious press conference in Oxford. His remarks had drawn criticism for their divisive tone.
Farage had initially outlined plans to remove hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers within the first five years of a Reform government, including agreements with authoritarian regimes to facilitate returns. He also stated: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival, will be detained.”
However, at a press event near Edinburgh on Wednesday, when questioned about whether his stance on protecting women in the UK conflicted with his deportation plans—particularly sending women and girls back to countries where they might face violence—he denied the contradiction.
At the event, where Graham Simpson was introduced as the latest politician to leave the Scottish Conservatives for Reform, Farage said: “We’re not even discussing women and children at this stage; there are so many illegal males in Britain.”
When pressed on whether this meant exemptions for women and children, he clarified: “I didn’t say exempt forever, but at this stage, it’s not part of our plan for the next five years.”
Farage also softened his earlier suggestion to revisit the Good Friday Agreement after criticism from Northern Irish political parties, who called his comments irresponsible. He acknowledged, “the Northern Ireland situation is deeply complex” and added that it “will not be at the forefront of what we do.”
Rejecting claims of a decline in female support, Farage said more women had joined Reform in recent months and were becoming “very strong forces in the party.”
He described Reform as a “rapidly growing political movement in Scotland,” citing their performance in June’s Hamilton byelection, where their candidate secured 26% of the vote. He also mentioned around 200 potential candidates being considered nationwide and predicted a poor outcome for the Scottish Conservatives in next year’s Holyrood elections.
Simpson is now Reform’s only MSP in the Scottish Parliament and the second overall after Michelle Ballantyne’s defection in the previous term. Addressing former colleagues, Simpson said: “To those with ideas for Scotland who feel unheard—reach out. My door will be open, wherever I’m placed in Parliament next week.”
Recent months have seen protests near asylum accommodations in Scottish towns like Falkirk, Perth, and Aberdeen, though not as widespread as in England. Counterprotests by anti-racism demonstrators often outnumbered these gatherings.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay commented that recent protests outside an asylum facility in Falkirk were understandable following an assault case involving an Afghan asylum seeker and a local teenager.
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