CLA · On the Record
Leader, Reform UK; MP for Clacton
“Today, I am announcing that a Reform UK Government will SHUT DOWN the asylum system.”
What was said
On 12 October 2026, Nigel Farage published that statement on his personal X account before a Reform UK press conference. At the event, Farage and the party set out a proposal to prevent anyone being granted asylum or humanitarian protection for five years.
What the proposal covers
According to the announcement and contemporaneous reporting, a Reform government would declare pending asylum applications void, abolish asylum tribunals and legal refugee and resettlement routes, and deport people whose approximately 90,000 outstanding asylum and humanitarian-protection appeals would no longer be heard. Refugee grants from the previous five years would be reviewed.
Asked during the press conference whether children would be included among those deported or repatriated, Farage said they would not be exempt, arguing that an exemption would open the door to family reunions.
Context and response
Farage described the situation as a “national security emergency” and said: “We cannot accept more asylum seekers while we still have no idea how many people are in the country illegally and the threat they pose.” Reform UK says the measures are necessary to protect the public and restore control of the border.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp responded that the proposals largely copied Conservative policy and argued that Reform had missed legal loopholes. No retraction or correction from Farage concerning the quoted proposal had been identified when this record was reviewed.
Evidence
Primary source: Nigel Farage’s X statement, 12 October 2026
Full event: Reform UK press-conference recording
Contemporaneous coverage: The Guardian live report; ITV News / PA; The Independent / PA
Evidence status: Direct statement by Farage, supported by a full-event recording and contemporaneous reporting.
Legal status: Political proposal, not enacted legislation. No criminal charge, conviction, administrative finding or finding of unlawful conduct is asserted.
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026
Nationality-specific exclusion proposed earlier
“So I'm sorry. There's no more immigrants from Palestine or Afghanistan if I'm in charge.”
On 30 September 2026, US podcaster Benny Johnson published a video clip in which Farage made that statement. The clip's publication date is verified; the interview's exact recording date has not been independently established. In the same clip, Farage linked the proposal to protecting “young women and girls”, saying attitudes towards women were “completely different in these countries”.
The remarks followed Farage's rejection on 28 September of proposed safe and legal routes for vulnerable Palestinians and Afghan women and girls, when he argued that national security should take priority. His broader 12 October proposal would subsequently close all legal refugee and resettlement routes for five years except the route for Ukrainians already admitted after Russia's full-scale invasion.
Primary clip: Benny Johnson interview excerpt, published 30 September 2026
Context: GB News interview report, 28 September 2026
Status: A political proposal, not enacted policy. No criminal charge, conviction, administrative finding or finding of unlawful conduct is asserted. No retraction or correction concerning this statement had been identified by 14 October 2026.
Proposal to prosecute organisations assisting asylum seekers
“Totally, totally. The role of the NGOs, the role of those that are sponsored by taxpayers' money, because they're nice, they're good, they're kind. They have actually aided and abetted criminality in absolutely every way.”
In a further excerpt from the Benny Johnson interview, published on 30 September 2026, Johnson asked Farage whether he supported criminal penalties for people he said had facilitated “this invasion of the English Isles”. Farage gave the reply above. He did not identify a specific organisation. In the same interview, Farage called the arrival of asylum seekers “literally an invasion of people who could cause us enormous harm” and said: “We are importing into our countries ... people who will do us enormous harm, who will change, disrupt our lives in every way, in fact make our way of life potentially unrecognisable.” The interview's exact recording date has not been independently established.
The Guardian reported the remarks on 14 October 2026. A Reform UK spokesperson told the newspaper that Farage's comments “speak for themselves”. No correction or retraction had been identified when this record was reviewed.
Primary clip: Benny Johnson interview excerpt, published 30 September 2026
Contemporaneous report: The Guardian, 14 October 2026
Status: A political proposal concerning possible criminal penalties, not enacted policy, a criminal charge, conviction, administrative finding or finding of unlawful conduct.
Earlier recorded statement
“a group of people attempting dominance over our capital city and our culture”
Farage used this phrase in a video about a Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square and said he would support stopping mass Muslim prayer events at historic British sites. Watch the original video.
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About On the Record
On the Record is Civil Liberties Action’s public archive of consequential statements made by people and organisations influencing British public life. Inclusion is not an allegation of illegality. We publish the source, context and legal status so readers can judge the evidence themselves.
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