Reform UK’s plan to prosecute companies whose migrant residents commit violence against women and girls has been branded “bizarre” by former Conservative immigration minister Kevin Foster.
Nigel Farage’s party has pledged to establish a police-led task force to investigate private contractors providing accommodation for asylum seekers, with bosses also facing punishment if migrants harm locals.
Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf announced the policy on Saturday during a visit to Piddington, Oxfordshire, where 1,250 asylum seekers are expected to be housed.
Discussing the policy on GB News, Mr Foster said there was some precedent for holding landlords responsible for criminal activity on their premises.
However, he questioned how Reform’s proposal would work when companies were housing migrants at the Government’s request.
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“The idea that you’re going to prosecute people for doing something that the government has asked them to do directly” raised practical questions, he said.
He pointed to former military sites being used for asylum accommodation, adding: “You’d have the rather bizarre thing that the Home Office is prosecuting the people it’s supposed to be overseeing.”
Mr Foster also backed the principle of converting former military bases into secure accommodation, but warned significant work would be required.
He said that the Government should ultimately focus on processing asylum claims and removing people who have no right to remain.
“Ultimately what people want to see is people’s cases being dealt with and then them being removed from this country,” he said.
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