Nigel Farage will explain how he will prevent early releases (Image: Getty)
Foreign prisoners in UK jails should be deported to serve sentences overseas, Nigel Farage said. The policy, to be enacted if Reform UK wins a general election, would end the prison overcrowding crisis and the need for early releases – such as the release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper, Mr Farage said. He will also on Tuesday set out plans for temporary “Nightingale” prisons, modelled on the makeshift hospitals created during the Covid crisis.
Mr Farage said: “There are 10,800 foreign prisoners. You deport them, either back to their home country, or you find a third party country that is prepared to have them. That would clear space in prison, and by the way, save a fortune. Because having prisoners in this country is very expensive.”
Temporary prisons could be used to house British inmates rather than releasing them early, Mr Farage said.
“During Covid they took an army brigadier who was good at logistics, and within five or six days, he built the Nightingale hospitals, that could house thousands of people. They weren’t needed, but the contingency was there and it was done. We could build Nightingale prisons.”
Mr Farage and Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf are promising to free up 10,000 prison spaces by removing foreigners in UK jails, and build 12,000 Nightingale prison places within 18 months of Reform winning power.
Mr Yusuf said: “Andy Burnham is about to release killers from jail early, including the men who killed PC Andrew Harper.
“The Tories released thousands of prisoners early, including murderers and rapists.
“It was the Tories that created the prison capacity crisis, importing 6 million net new people through immigration and building just 455 net new prison places to cope.
“Reform will bring justice back to Britain, ensuring those who commit serious crimes like murder, rape and serious violence serve their full sentences.”
Speaking exclusively to the Express, Mr Farage also warned that British police forces are infected by a “woke culture” that has made them biased against Right-wingers.
He compared the UK to Russia and Communist China as he warned police were harassing people for expressing opinions instead of fighting crime. It follows a series of incidents in which police have turned up at people’s homes following complaints about social media posts.
And he highlighted the Metropolitan Police’s refusal to take action against Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Mr Polanksi had shared a photo of a man with a T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”.
The Green leader said he had made an “inadvertent mistake” but refused to apologise.
Mr Farage said: “There were more knocks at the door in this country in 2025 than there were in Communist China or Russia.
“People do say horrible things on social media, but it all appears to be one way round.
“Polanski put something out on Instagram, which is ‘only making plans for Nigel’ with a guillotine, and the police say the evidential bar to act hasn’t been reached.
“Can you imagine if I did that? I promise you, the evidential bar would be met.”