Reform Uk sets Green-held areas first for detention centres
Reform UK said it would prioritise Green-held constituencies and Green-run councils for new immigration detention centres if it wins power, with Zia Yusuf announcing the plan three days before Thursday’s Senedd election. The party said a Reform government would build capacity to detain up to 24,000 people at a time and would exclude any constituency with a Reform MP or any area where Reform controls a council.
The announcement came in a social media post by the party’s national account and included Yusuf’s line that, “Given the Green Party advocate for open borders and for an infinite number of undocumented men to come here, we will prioritise Green constituencies and Green controlled councils to locate these detention centres,” The post also linked to a dedicated website, votegreengetillegals.com, with a postcode checker that uses polling data from More in Common and JL Partners MRPs to show whether an area would be prioritised.
Yusuf’s detention centre plan
Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, tied the siting plan to the party’s wider pledge to deport up to one million foreign nationals over five years. Reform said its planned Mass Deportation (Detention) Act would give ministers absolute discretion over where new detention centres go, remove current planning protections and offer no legal right to appeal.
The proposal would also remove the right of local authorities to block unwanted facilities. Under the party’s stated plan, Welsh communities would have no recourse through their Senedd Members to challenge a siting decision, even though immigration is reserved to the UK Government in Westminster and the Senedd has no powers over immigration.
Mothin Ali on Reform
Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali condemned the announcement and said, “Reform keep making abhorrent announcements to distract voters from the fact they want to privatise the NHS,” He added, “Greens are focused on building council housing, fixing our public services and bringing down the cost of living.”
The timing lands as the Greens are on course to win seats in the Senedd for the first time in history. A More in Common poll published on the morning of the article projected five Green seats across Wales, the number the party needs to qualify for official group status in the Senedd and unlock more than £300,000 in additional funding.
Wales vote and siting powers
Reform was polling at 27% in Wales and was projected to win 34 seats in Thursday’s election. The siting plan does not change the Senedd’s powers over immigration, but it does set out how a Reform government would decide where detention centres could go under UK authority.
For voters in places projected to be targeted or excluded, the practical effect is straightforward: Reform has already named the categories it would favour, named the areas it would bar, and built a postcode checker to sort the rest before polling day.
