Nigel Farage issued a simple six word answer when questioned how Reform UK intends to fund its pledge to deport migrants.
At a press conference, Reform UK outlined its plan to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers in its first parliament if elected to government.
Mr Farage was asked how his plans for deportations have been costed at an estimate of £10billion, while a near identical plan by The Centre for Migrant Control, led by Rupert Lowe, has been costed at around £47.5billion.
Mr Farage simply said: “Because Zia’s really good at maths.” The answer received laughs and a round of applause from the audience.
The Reform leader claimed the party’s plans to deport asylum seekers en masse will save “tens and possibly even hundreds of billions of pounds” in the decades ahead and will stop small boats coming “within days”.
Launching the party’s so-called “Operation Restoring Justice” programme, he told a press conference: “Our proposals will save over the course of the next decades tens and possibly even hundreds of billions of pounds.
“By the end of a first parliament, we will have saved a huge amount of money.”
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Alamy
Mr Farage also said: “The only way we will stop the boats is by detaining and deporting absolutely anyone that comes via that route.
“And if we do that, the boats will stop coming within days, because there will be no incentive to pay a trafficker to get into this country.
“If you come to the UK illegally, you will be detained and deported and never, ever allowed to stay, period. That is our big message from today.”
Reform UK vowed to clamp down on asylum approvals given to people who have overstayed on visas.
Mr Farage referred to those who had arrived from Pakistan.
He said: “They haven’t come by boat.
“They’ve come with the excuse that they’re coming to visit relatives, then they overstay and that racket, that absolute racket that’s been going on for years has to end.
“The same applies to students who come here and then deliberately and wilfully overstay.”
He added: “Overstaying is a massive problem, and neither of the last two governments frankly have done very much at all to deal with it.”
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Alamy
Some 659 migrants arrived in the UK on Monday after crossing the English Channel, according to figures from the Home Office.
The cumulative number of arrivals in 2025 now stands at a provisional total of 28,947.
This is 50% higher than at the same point last year, when the total stood at 19,294, and 47% higher than at this stage in 2023, when the total was 19,741.
There were nine boats that arrived on Monday, which suggests an average of around 73 people per boat.
Some 52,189 migrants have arrived in the UK using this route since the 2024 general election.
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LBC
