UK politics latest: Reform to announce plans for ICE-style UK border agency

Reform’s home affairs spokesperson will deliver his first speech in his new role at 11am.

Minnie Rahman, CEO of human rights charity Praxis, said Reform's plans will "damage democracy, crash the economy, and make the UK a more hostile place".

She said: “Reform UK is offering a future where people’s rights are stripped away to push racist, xenophobic policies that spread hate and division.

“These plans won’t just target migrants - they will damage our democracy, crash the economy, and make the UK a more hostile place for all people of colour, regardless of immigration status.

"We only have to look at the United States to see where this road leads: children torn from their parents, communities living in fear of random detention, and a state that cannot be held to account.

"British people want libraries, not detention centres. More homes, not neighbours in handcuffs. A functioning NHS, not mass deportations.”

The Independent’s Home Affairs Correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:

Ahead of Zia Yusuf's speech on Reform UK's immigration plans, Andreea Dumitrache, from the migrants rights group the3million, told The Independent: “It is despicable that Reform are once again stoking hatred towards migrant communities.

“Stripping people of their rights after they’ve built lives, families and futures in the UK is fundamentally unfair. Importing the worst aspects of the US model, with large-scale detention and aggressive raids, would only sow fear and cause harm. These racist policies would benefit no one.

“We urge the government to stop pandering to anti-migrant rhetoric and instead stand up for fairness.”

Other home affairs policies Zia Yusuf will set out today include:

• A promise to impose “visa freezes” on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria if the countries refuse to take back migrants with no legal right to stay in Britain.
• Immediate listed status granted to all churches to “legally prevent their conversion into mosques or other places of worship” as part of “protecting Britain’s Christian heritage”.
• Immediate termination of Universal Credit welfare payments to foreign nationals.
• Charter flights to run five times daily, supported by a standby RAF Voyager aircraft.
• Police to be stripped of diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates.

Reform said costings would be set out at the event on Monday when asked for its calculations.

Schools standards minister Georgia Gould said “too many children are being let down” as they have been unable to find a place within their local community.

Asked if inclusion works is the organising principle of the reforms, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Absolutely. We want children to be educated in their community with their friends.

“And I have travelled around the country talking to young people, to parents, and there is nothing more distressing than talking to a young person who is desperate to be in education, desperate to be supported by teachers and with their friends, but have found themselves unable to find a place within their local community. And that has to change. Too many children are being let down.

“And you know, I know from talking to teachers and schools, this is something they want to do, but they haven’t had the right tools and resources, and that’s why today, we’re announcing £4 billion of investment to wrap around schools to really make sure that every school is able to provide the support children need, whether that’s access to a speech and language therapist, whether that’s that additional staff member or the training to be able to really meet the needs of children.”

Responding to the schools white paper, Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the local government association, said: “For too long, the SEND system has been failing children, young people and their families. Substantial reform is desperately needed so that they get the support they need.

“We're pleased the government shares our aspiration that children with SEND who require support do so in a mainstream setting where appropriate; and that all children can reach their potential.

“Councils want every child to get the support they need without parents and carers necessarily having to apply for a statutory plan.

“For improved mainstream inclusion to be successful, all settings need to be empowered and resourced to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, with a workforce that has the capacity and right skills.

“Councils have a key role to play and will need powers to lead local SEND systems and to hold health and education partners to account, to make sure they are meeting children’s needs.

“The LGA looks forward to studying, responding and working with government and partners on the White Paper to ensure it meets the needs of children and their families.”

The current system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) “does not work”, Sir Keir Starmer said, as he set out a £4 billion reform package.

Mainstream schools in England will receive direct funding to support Send children as part of a plan to make the system more inclusive.

Targeted interventions such as small-group language work will be invested in, as well as help for staff to introduce adaptive teaching styles, as part of a major government overhaul.

Some £1.6 billion over three years will be provided to early years, schools and colleges through an “inclusive mainstream fund”.

Another £1.8 billion over the same period will go towards creating an “experts at hand” service, made up of specialists such as SEND teachers and speech and language therapists in every area.

Schools will be able to draw from this bank on demand regardless of whether pupils have education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legal documents setting out the support children with Send are entitled to – the Department for Education (DfE) said.

Elsewhere, mainstream schools will receive direct funding to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) as part of a £4 billion package to make the system more inclusive.

Targeted interventions such as small-group language work will be invested in, as well as help for staff to introduce adaptive teaching styles, as part of a major Government overhaul to be announced on Monday.

Some £1.6 billion over three years will be provided to early years, schools and colleges through an “inclusive mainstream fund”.

Sir Keir Starmer said the reforms would help youngsters make the most of their talents.

At a breakfast meeting with school leaders and charities in Downing Street, the prime minister said: “For so many children, they are held back by a system that doesn’t work for them.”

The prime minister referred to his own brother Nick, who died on Boxing Day 2024, who had struggled with learning difficulties and was “put to one side”, adding that “his life was very different from mine” because the system did not work for him.

“I’m not saying for a moment there haven’t been huge improvements since then, but that same sense is still there of children who cannot find the opportunities and chances they need to go as far as their talents and their ability will take them,” Sir Keir said.

About Mr Yusuf’s upcoming speech, Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: “Reform wants to divide our country, not deliver for the British people.

“Their plan to deport people who have followed the rules, worked hard and built their lives here – our friends, neighbours and colleagues – is a direct attack on settled families and fundamentally un-British.”

She added: “The British people are right to expect firm control of our borders – with clear rules about who can come here and swift action against those with no right to be here – alongside action to make our country safe – and that is what Labour is delivering.”

Amnesty International UK has accused Reform UK of scapegoating migrants to “justify mass deportations and expanded police surveillance”

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