Story perspectives

Reform UK Proposes £12bn, 24,000 Detention Centres

5/4/2026

Summary

Story summary

Reform UK will open migrant detention centres in Green-run councils under a Mass Deportation Detention Act that lets the home secretary override council opposition.
The party estimates building 24,000 new detention spaces to prison standards would cost about £12 billion.
Green Party called the plan “disgusting” and “performative cruelty”.
Analysts say Reform UK could win thousands of council seats, while Labour warns it may lose up to three-quarters of English seats.

History

Historical Context

The 2004 Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act set rules for immigration enforcement, and that year enforcement operations rose 360% to 1,600, detecting 3,330 illegal workers. After a 1999 Home Office IT collapse forced a restructuring of the Immigration Service, the framework persisted. Reform UK’s 2024 Mass Deportation Detention Act now proposes 24,000 new facilities, reviving the earlier expansion model.

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Story summary

Reform UK will open migrant detention centres in Green-run councils under a Mass Deportation Detention Act that lets the home secretary override council opposition.
The party estimates building 24,000 new detention spaces to prison standards would cost about £12 billion.
Green Party called the plan “disgusting” and “performative cruelty”.
Analysts say Reform UK could win thousands of council seats, while Labour warns it may lose up to three-quarters of English seats.

1 / 2