Nigel Farage pledges to tackle 'lawless Britain' with radical plan that could see offenders sent to jails in El Salvador
The Reform leader will take the fight to Labour on crime with a series of measures that will require the police to investigate all crimes – and see serious offenders spend years more behind bars.
Mr Farage will pledge a 'zero tolerance' approach designed to halve Britain's crime rate.
Writing in the Daily Mail today, Mr Farage says he is putting criminals 'on notice' that Britain's soft-touch justice system will come to an end if Reform win the next election.
Measures include the introduction of 'saturation stop and search' in high crime areas, with as many as one in five people stopped to send out a message that crime will not be tolerated.
Thousands more prison places will be built on disused Ministry of Defence land. And the most serious offenders could be forced to serve their time in jails overseas, including in El Savador's notorious supermax prisons.
Mr Farage warns that law-abiding members of the public have been left felling 'helpless' by the way crime has been 'normalised' in recent years – and pledge to 'take back control of our streets from the criminals who currently plague them'.
'Reform UK will be the toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen,' he writes. 'We will cut crime in half. We will take back control of our streets, we will take back control of our courts and prisons. If you're a criminal, I am putting you on notice. In 2029 you have a choice to make: be a law-abiding citizen or face serious justice.'
Mr Farage will set out details of the package today as he begins a new campaign on fixing Britain's 'broken' criminal justice system. He is likely to face tough questioning over how Reform would find the billions of pounds needed to recruit thousands more police officers and build a string of new prisons.
Reform sources said the bill would be dwarfed by the annual cost of crime in the UK, which is estimated at up to £250 billion.
The plan will begin with a 'zero tolerance' approach to policing. Along with expanded use of stop and search, under-18s in high crime areas could face curfew orders.
Police forces will be ordered to investigate all reported crimes and arrest all those caught shoplifting to tackle the epidemic of thefts plaguing the retail sector.
Reform will also adopt a 'commit the crime, pay the price' approach that will lead to some offenders facing dramatically longer sentences.
Sex offenders and those convicted of serious violence or carrying a knife will no longer be eligible for early release. Those handed life sentences will serve them in full.
By contrast, Labour is currently considering proposals that would make most offenders eligible for release after serving just a third of their sentence.
A new 'totting up' system will mean that anyone convicted of a third serious offence could face life in jail.
Mr Farage will argue that Reform could free up more than 10,000 prison places by deporting most foreign criminals currently languishing in British jails.
A further 12,400 prison places will be created using pre-fabricated structures erected on MoD land – a process Reform sources said could take as little as 18 months.
The party will also look to do deals to create a 'dynamic' system that would allow up to 10,000 convicts to serve part of their sentence in jails overseas.
The last Tory government looked at deals to send prisoners to the Netherlands to ease overcrowding, while Labour is reported to have held discussions with Estonia.
Reform will cast its net wider, with sources saying the worst offenders, such as Soham murderer Ian Huntley, could be sent to brutal jails in El Salvador, where Donald Trump has been deporting alleged foreign gang members.
Labour dismissed the proposals last night, saying Reform MPs had voted against recent measures to crack down on crime.
Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: 'They should focus more on practical solutions to support our police, combat crime, deliver justice for victims of crime rather than chasing headlines , spouting slogans and trying to divide communities.'
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