Nigel Farage just set himself the challenge of a lifetime on behalf of Britain

OPINION

Nigel Farage said the unsayable last week: under his government there would be mass deportations of illegal immigrants from the UK - up to five flights a day - as small boating crossings are up nearly 40% year-to-year. Speaking to The Times, the Reform UK chief warned of a "massive crisis" threatening national security, as we all know Britain's asylum policy is a taxpayer-funded joke.

Oxford University - that well-known bastion of Faragism - found two-thirds of small boat arrivals who claim asylum are successful while only 3% have even been deported. Farage risks the ire of the chattering classes but will win the applause of the weary masses when he claims the risk of human abuses for those sent back is secondary to the safety needs of the British people.

Under Farage's plans, illegal immigrants could be arrested on arrival, detained at disused RAF bases - or British Overseas Territories - and sent packing.

Believe me, writing this from Singapore, the moment a British government did such a thing illegal immigration would grind to a halt.

Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan don't accept this crap, and guess what, none of them have substantive illegal immigration. Ditto Britain's neighbours in Central and Eastern Europe like Hungary and Poland.

Farage is no doubt aware of this, arguing if people know they will be detained and deported they will stop coming "very quickly".

Yet the Reform leader also knows the establishment pressure against him will be immense. Courts aside, without substantial Reform representation in the House of Lords, a Farage-led government could face an enormously obstructionist upper house.

Moreover, while Farage's goal to take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is laudable, it may not be enough. After all, Hungary and Poland signed up to the ECHR and they have no issue chucking out illegal migrants.

Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government has strengthened immigration controls and "sharply increased" enforcement and returns. Yeah right! Like anyone would trust Labour on this subject.

Back in March, PM Sir Keir Starmer claimed his government "returned more than 24,000 people" but barely over 6,000 of these were enforced returns. The majority were voluntary.

Meanwhile Ms Cooper's Tory counterpart - Chris Philp - said Reform is "recycling many ideas the Conservatives have already announced". Of course. Who can forget the Conservatives' stellar record on migration?!?

As Reform remains on course to win the next election, Farage speaks for the silent majority when he said: "I can't be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets."

And who knows how many of these claims of potential human rights abuses for would-be returnees are utterly bogus?

Frankly, no asylum seeker should be accepted if already in a safe first world country like France. Nor - if sensible countries like Japan and Poland - keep this door shut should the UK be under any obligation to accept illegal migrants.

Keeping the criteria for asylum super strict - or restricting where people can go (including housing folks offshore) - would ensure only legitimate asylum applicants attempt to come to Britain. No more con artists!

Farage knows the the political sands are shifting. But the next election is likely four years away and there will be an establishment ready to obstruct everything a Reform government tries. Farage's plan then will be the political challenge of a lifetime!