Send foreign prisoners abroad to end early releases, says Reform UK

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has put forward a proposal to relocate all foreign prisoners to serve their sentences overseas, aiming to abolish the Labour government's early release scheme. The party claims that removing foreign nationals from domestic facilities, alongside building emergency temporary prisons, would free up more than 10,000 spaces and allow serious offenders to serve their full terms.

Under the proposed plans, foreign criminals given non-custodial sentences would face immediate deportation to their home countries. Those handed custodial sentences would serve the entirety of their time back home or in a third-party nation providing rented prison spaces if their home countries refuse them. The party has previously pointed to Kosovo and El Salvador, with Farage adding Estonia and Lithuania to potential options.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Reform asserts that housing a foreign offender in El Salvador would cost half as much as doing so in the UK. Any agreement would require El Salvador to comply with British standards regarding size, lighting, heating, ventilation, fittings, and daily outdoor access. However, the policy document leaves unanswered questions regarding remand prisoners awaiting trial, who account for roughly a third of that inmate population, a point that neither Farage nor home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf addressed during a press conference.