Securing Our Borders: Immigration and Sovereignty
Immigration has become one of the defining issues of our time — not because Britain is an unwelcoming country, but because control has been lost.
Net migration has reached record highs, small-boat crossings continue despite endless promises, and public confidence in the system has collapsed.
At its heart, this is not just a policy failure. It is a sovereignty failure.
A country that cannot decide who enters, who stays, and under what conditions is no longer fully in control of its own future.
The Reality We Face
Britain is currently experiencing record net migration, running into the hundreds of thousands each year. At the same time, the asylum system is overwhelmed, with backlogs stretching for years and billions of pounds being spent on hotels and temporary accommodation.
The costs are not abstract:
billions spent annually on asylum support
pressure on housing, schools, GPs, and local services
falling trust in fairness and the rule of law
Most people understand that immigration is complex. They know there are genuine refugees, economic migrants, students, and workers — all with different circumstances. But they also know that the current system is broken.
Why the System Keeps Failing
Successive governments have promised control, only to deliver drift. Laws are passed, then quietly undermined. Enforcement is announced, then blocked. Ministers blame lawyers, courts, or international rules — but the result is always the same: nothing changes.
When illegal entry is rarely punished, and removal is the exception rather than the rule, the incentive structure collapses. Smuggling gangs thrive, dangerous crossings continue, and genuine refugees are trapped in limbo.
This is unfair on everyone — including those who play by the rules.
Reform UK’s Four-Point Plan to Restore Control
Reform UK has set out a clear, hardline but practical approach to securing Britain’s borders. It rests on four core principles.
1. Freeze Most New Immigration
Until the system is under control, immigration must be paused except where there is a clear national interest. You do not fix a leaking pipe by turning the tap up.
2. Leave the ECHR to Regain Control
Britain’s inability to remove illegal migrants is heavily constrained by the European Convention on Human Rights. Leaving the ECHR would allow Parliament to reassert democratic control and enable policies such as offshore processing — used successfully by other countries.
3. Offshore Processing and Swift Decisions
Asylum claims should be processed outside the UK, removing the incentive to make dangerous journeys. Those with valid claims can be resettled safely. Those without should be returned quickly.
4. Return Illegal Migrants to France
Small-boat crossings are not spontaneous acts — they are organised crimes originating on the French coast. Illegal entrants should be returned immediately, breaking the business model of the gangs.
Firm, Fair, and Honest
Critics often claim these policies are “harsh”. But the truth is that the current system is far harsher:
harsher on local communities
harsher on taxpayers
harsher on genuine refugees trapped in years of uncertainty
and far deadlier for those encouraged to cross the Channel
A firm system is not an unkind system. A clear, enforced system is the most compassionate one.
Sovereignty Is Not Optional
This debate is ultimately about who decides. Should immigration policy be set by elected lawmakers accountable to the British public — or constrained indefinitely by external courts and legal interpretations?
Reform UK believes the answer is simple: Britain must decide.
That does not mean closing the door forever. It means restoring fairness, safety, and trust — and rebuilding a system that works for citizens and migrants alike.
Border control is not about hostility. It is about responsibility.
Until Britain regains control of its borders, every other promise — on housing, wages, public services, and cohesion — will remain harder to keep.