Nigel Farage has escalated his immigration campaign by proposing criminal penalties and pension confiscation for civil servants he says have allowed dangerous migrants to enter or remain in the UK, shifting the political focus from border policy to personal accountability inside the Home Office. The Reform UK leader said officials who knowingly approve asylum claims for individuals with criminal histories should face prosecution and loss of retirement benefits.
The proposal comes amid heightened political debate over public safety, migration controls and rising convictions involving foreign nationals. Farage said his party would no longer tolerate what he described as bureaucratic indifference to risk, arguing that responsibility must extend beyond politicians to the officials administering asylum decisions.
"I will not allow the safety of our women and girls to be sacrificed on the altar of misguided liberalism," Farage told the Mail on Sunday, linking his proposal to recent crime statistics showing a sharp rise in convictions involving non-UK nationals.
Data cited by Reform UK show that sexual offence convictions involving foreign nationals have risen 62% over four years, a figure the party says reflects systemic failures in screening and enforcement. Farage has argued that the pressure to clear asylum backlogs has weakened scrutiny of applicants' criminal histories.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's head of policy, expanded on the proposal in an article for The Telegraph, accusing the state of enabling harm through administrative decisions. Yusuf wrote that the government had become "complicit" by approving asylum claims involving individuals with known histories of violence.
Under Reform UK's proposal, a new offence-described as "dishonestly determining an asylum claim"-would be created. Officials found guilty could face prison sentences of up to two years, alongside the forfeiture of pensions in the most serious cases, with recovered funds redirected to charities supporting victims of crime.
Yusuf argued that such penalties are necessary to change institutional behavior, saying current safeguards fail to deter poor or reckless decision-making. Reform UK sources say the policy is designed to target both senior managers and caseworkers where misconduct or willful neglect can be proven.
The party has also highlighted the operational strain inside the asylum system. One Home Office employee, quoted anonymously, described the process as a "crazy carousel," saying staff are under pressure to process thousands of cases, often with limited documentation. The official said they feared "the day I see someone I approved on the news for a violent crime."
A Reform UK source said responsibility lies with both management and frontline officials who "wave through" applications under political pressure. The party argues that financial accountability would force a cultural shift toward stricter vetting and enforcement.
The government has rejected claims that civil servants are acting recklessly. A spokesperson said nearly 50,000 people with no right to remain in the UK have been removed in recent periods and noted that asylum-related returns are up 27% year over year. The spokesperson added that reforms are already under way to strengthen border controls and casework standards.
Despite those assurances, Farage has continued to press his case, arguing that internal reform has failed to restore public confidence. He has repeatedly said only personal consequences for decision-makers will change behavior, including the loss of what he calls "gold-plated pensions."
