Some early reactions:
1) The Scottish Greens’ co-leader, Ross Greer, has dismissed Reform UK’s plan as “pathetic” and “Trumpesque”. He said: Reform are now openly threatening voters and not only that they’re threatening them with a power they don’t actually have. This is absolutely pathetic. People across Scotland are proud of the fact that this is a welcoming country that shows solidarity to people who need it. Reform are essentially saying ‘If you don’t vote the way we want you to, we will punish you’.
2) Fraser Nelson, Times columnist, “Another significant evolution in Reform’s style of politics. Its proposed internment camps will only be built in parts of the country that vote for its rivals. This is a new departure for UK politics: rejecting the idea of PM-for-all and instead a new partisan style.
3) Gideon Rachman, the Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs commentator, “I think most British people believe in the basic principle that no matter who you vote for, the government will treat you equally under the law. Yusuf’s plan to put detention camps in Green voting areas violates that. It is trolling as public policy and I think will damage Reform.
4) David Aaronovitch, the Radio 4, “The practical and legal problems seem insuperable. No non Reform local council would agree to it. So it’s not really a serious policy. The biggest concentrations of illegal migrants are almost certainly in the cities. You shouldn’t confuse them with the asylum seekers being accommodated in hostels. It’s likely that potential Green voters are already living among them”.
