Reform UK will aim to halve crime within five years if elected to government, Nigel Farage has announced, revealing an ambitious £17.4 billion plan to transform law and order across Britain. The party leader outlined proposals to recruit thousands more police officers and create new prison places at an estimated annual cost of £3.48 billion.
Speaking at a Westminster press conference on Monday, Farage declared his party would be "the toughest party on law and order and on crime that this country has ever seen". He warned criminals they would face "very serious justice" from 2029 onwards under a Reform government.
£10.5 billion police recruitment drive
The largest portion of Reform's spending plans focuses on recruiting 30,000 additional police officers, with an estimated cost of £10.5 billion over five years. This represents the party's primary strategy for taking back control of Britain's streets and reducing crime rates.
Farage told reporters: "We will aim to cut crime by half in the first five years of Reform government. We will take back control of our streets. We will take back control of our courts, of our prisons."
New prison construction plans
The Reform leader has committed to creating 12,400 new prison places on Ministry of Defence land at a cost of £5 billion. The plans include building five new "Nightingale Prisons" with assistance from the Army to address overcrowding in the current prison system.
Documents distributed at Monday's press conference show the party estimates a total cost of £17.4 billion over a five-year parliamentary term. The proposals aim to fundamentally reshape Britain's approach to criminal justice and law enforcement.
Foreign prisoner deportation strategy
Farage outlined plans to free up more than 10,000 prison places by deporting foreign criminals to their countries of origin through bilateral agreements. The party leader revealed he was "in conversation with Edi Rama", the Albanian prime minister, regarding prisoner transfers.
Reform also proposes establishing prison places overseas in countries such as El Salvador, describing this as a "dynamic prisons" policy estimated to cost £1.25 billion over a parliamentary term. Farage confirmed he would be prepared to accept British criminals currently held in foreign prisons as part of these arrangements.
Six-week campaign launch
The Reform leader told reporters that accepting British prisoners from overseas would be "fair, right and proper" as part of the bilateral agreements his government would seek to establish. He emphasised that taking back control of streets, courts and prisons would be central to Reform's approach to governance.
Monday's announcement marks the beginning of a six-week campaign on law and order, timed to coincide with Parliament's summer recess. Farage warned criminals: "If you're a criminal, I am putting you on notice today that from 2029 or whenever that may be, either you obey the law or you will face very serious justice."
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
