Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has proposed sending foreign prisoners to serve their sentences abroad as part of a wider plan to scrap Labour’s early release scheme, arguing that removing foreign nationals from the prison estate would create space for serious offenders to serve their full sentences.
According to Nigel Farage, Reform UK is exploring agreements with third countries to rent prison capacity, naming El Salvador as one of the countries being considered as the party seeks an alternative to releasing prisoners early because of overcrowding in England and Wales.
Under Reform’s proposed approach, foreign nationals given non-custodial sentences would be deported to their countries of origin, while those sentenced to prison would serve the entirety of their terms either in their home countries or in prisons operated in third countries under agreements with the UK.
According to the party, the measures, combined with the construction of emergency temporary prisons known as “Nightingale” prisons, could make tens of thousands of additional spaces available.
According to Reform UK, this would enable it to alter sentencing guidelines so that violent criminals and other serious offenders are no longer released before serving out their entire sentences.
At the end of June, there were 10,134 foreign nationals detained in England and Wales, making up about 12% of all inmates. According to Reform, this may free up over 10,000 spots in the prison estate under its planned deportation program.
However, the party’s proposals have raised questions over exactly which prisoners would be covered. Its policy document does not make clear whether the plan would apply to prisoners held on remand while awaiting trial, a group that accounts for roughly one-third of foreign nationals in custody.
Neither Farage nor Reform’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf provided a clear answer on the issue when questioned at a press conference unveiling the proposals.
Farage disclosed that, Reform UK was already examining possible arrangements with foreign governments, with El Salvador among the options being considered. He added that Reform chairman Lee Anderson would soon travel to the Central American country for preliminary discussions.
The party has previously identified Kosovo and El Salvador as potential destinations for overseas prison arrangements, while Farage said Estonia and Lithuania could also provide “Baltic state options.”
Farage argued that the government had inherited a difficult situation from the Conservatives but accused Labour of failing to develop an adequate response.
“Labour have inherited a very, very difficult situation” from the Conservatives, he said, but added: “They don’t appear to have the imagination or the will to solve it.”
Under current rules, foreign nationals who receive prison sentences of at least 12 months are subject to automatic deportation, although individuals can appeal against removal in certain circumstances.
The government has already increased efforts to remove foreign national offenders. Home Office figures show that 5,858 foreign national offenders were returned from the UK in the year ending March 2026, an increase of 13% on the previous year and the highest figure recorded since 2017.
The government has also expanded its “deport now, appeal later” arrangements, allowing certain foreign offenders to be removed before their appeals are concluded.
But Reform argues that deportation alone does not resolve the pressure created by foreign nationals currently occupying prison places and wants offenders to serve their sentences outside the UK.
Labour Rejects Reform Plan as Prison Crisis Deepens
Reform UK’s proposal comes against the backdrop of an increasingly serious prison-capacity problem in England and Wales, where the government is under pressure to prevent the prison estate from becoming overwhelmed.
The prison population stood at 86,495 on 3 August, representing about 97% of usable capacity. The Ministry of Justice has warned that the number of prisoners could overtake available capacity as soon as November.
The pressure has contributed to the government’s decision to proceed with an early release scheme, under which thousands of prisoners are expected to leave custody earlier than originally anticipated.
The first batch of a planned 5,000 prisoners is due to be released under the scheme in October, increasing political pressure on the government over concerns about public safety and whether serious offenders should be eligible for shortened periods behind bars.
UK Prime Minister and Labour leader Andy Burnham has already announced that prisoners convicted of rape, grooming and serious child sexual offences would be excluded from the scheme.
He has indicated that he would like to exempt additional categories of offenders but has argued that the prison-capacity crisis limits the government’s options.
The issue has become particularly contentious in the case of two men convicted over the death of PC Andrew Harper.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Under the current arrangements, both remain eligible for release after serving approximately half of their sentences.
More than 850,000 people have signed a petition calling for the pair to remain behind bars, intensifying public pressure on the government.
Downing Street noted that it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the early-release arrangements.
Reform has seized on the controversy to argue that the government’s approach is allowing serious offenders to return to society before completing the sentences handed down by courts.
The party estimates that its proposed sentencing reforms could increase the prison population by 18,000. It argues that this increase could be accommodated through the combination of foreign-prisoner deportations and the creation of 22,000 additional spaces through overseas prison arrangements and temporary “Nightingale” facilities.
However, Labour has dismissed the Reform proposal as unrealistic and insufficient to address the immediate pressures confronting Britain’s prisons.
Accordng to a Labour Party spokesperson, “this isn’t a serious prison plan.”
“Nigel Farage knows full well that renting prison places overseas would take years to arrange and does nothing to tackle the pressures we face now. While Reform chase headlines, this Labour government is getting on with the job – building 14,000 additional prison places and removing foreign criminals at pace.”
Labour Party spokesperson
He added that, “almost 10,000 foreign criminals have been removed since the election, up 36% on the previous 21 months.”
There is also the question of whether countries would accept prisoners from the UK in significant numbers and under what legal and financial conditions.
Other European governments have experimented with similar arrangements. Denmark, for example, agreed in 2021 to pay Kosovo an annual fee of £12.8 million under an initial five-year agreement to rent 300 prison spaces.
For Reform, however, the proposal forms part of a broader argument that Britain needs a fundamental change in its approach to crime and punishment.
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