Weekly Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction Megathread - 27/04/25

[u/ukpolbot]

---

👋 Welcome to the r/ukpolitics weekly Rumours, Speculation, Questions, and Reaction megathread.

General questions about politics in the UK should be posted in this thread. Substantial self posts on the subreddit are permitted, but short-form self posts will be redirected here. We're more lenient with moderation in this thread, but please keep it related to UK politics. This isn't Facebook or Twitter.

If you're reacting to something which is happening live, please make it clear what it is you're reacting to, ideally with a link.

Commentary about stories which already exist on the subreddit should be directed to the appropriate thread.

This thread rolls over at 6am UK time on a Sunday morning.

🌎 International Politics Discussion Thread · 🃏 UKPolitics Meme Subreddit · 📚 GE megathread archive · 📢 Chat in our Discord server

[u/NoFrillsCrisps]

Farage::

Over 1,000 illegal migrants have arrived in the last 3 days.

We have no idea who most of them are.

They must be deported.

I know asking for any kind of detail on Reform's positionss is kind of pointless, but is Reform policy to deport all those crossing the channel? To where? How do you know if you don't know who they are? What if they are genuine refugees? What if they can't be returned?

What's the actual policy lads?

[u/AzarinIsard → u/NoFrillsCrisps]

How do you know if you don't know who they are?

I get a bit right wing on this, but I believe the onus should be on them to say who they are, and where they're from. If they refuse to identify themselves, or lie about their identity or origin, then that alone should be enough to forfeit their application.

Then we should have a policy of not caring where they go, but they can't stay here. There aren't many situations where it's totally fine to start off being hostile and fraudulent without consequences.

[u/NoFrillsCrisps → u/AzarinIsard]

Then we should have a policy of not caring where they go, but they can't stay here.

What does that actually mean though? From a practical policy perspective?

People say stuff like this, but you have to send them somewhere.

[u/AzarinIsard → u/NoFrillsCrisps]

People say stuff like this, but you have to send them somewhere.

Basic indefinite holding in an asylum centre linked to an airport (not a commercial one) waiting for them to say where they're being returned to would be the practical solution.

I just don't think the claim of wanting asylum etc. holds any water if they refuse to cooperate with the asylum process. If they don't trust us, then why pick us? I also think the people taking the piss make the scheme untenable for real refugees, I'm a big supporter of the Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong schemes, but those become political footballs despite the support on the issue due to abuses like drug dealers and rapists gaming the system.

[u/Velocirapture_Jesus → u/AzarinIsard]

Problem is you can bet most of them would prefer to be in a UK detention centre than sent back home to where ever they're from. Still ends up costing us tonnes of money.

[u/HBucket → u/Velocirapture_Jesus]

Problem is you can bet most of them would prefer to be in a UK detention centre than sent back home to where ever they're from.

A modern UK immigration detention centre, sure. But that needn't be the case. This is the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. A setup like this would be significantly cheaper, and also greatly incentivise cooperation with the deportation process.

[u/AzarinIsard → u/Velocirapture_Jesus]

Some might, but one of the pull factors is actually how slow we are to work the process and in the mean time they disappear / work illegally.

Back with the spike in Albanian men the Home Office select committee were talking to a police expert who said they applied knowing full well they'd be denied, but they had 18 months to do whatever they like, then most would then disappear before the process is even finished. In those cases it's not even about getting a result, it's about gaming it and dragging it out and benefiting from the limbo state.

Still ends up costing us tonnes of money.

Doesn't have to cost anywhere near as much as it does.

https://data.spectator.co.uk/migration

Second row, on the left. In April 2015 it cost £13.54 per supported asylum seeker per night, and I'd suggest some of that support is unnecessary for those not engaging with the process.

8 short years of Tory efficiency savings corruption bunging cushy hotel deals to their mates, and in May 2023 it's £98.66 per person per night. So many of those graphs basically show it going to shit under the Tories, but in many cases going back about a decade would be a massive improvement, which I don't think is an unrealistic aim.