Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK Conservative Party, has pledged to deport 150,000 people a year as part of a sweeping, hardline immigration package unveiled at the party conference. Speaking in Manchester, Badenoch said: “My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported,” and outlined plans for a new US-style enforcement body to make that promise a reality.
Central to the plan is the creation of a so-called “Removals Force” modelled on the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The proposal would give the new body wide powers to identify, detain and remove people judged to be in the UK illegally, and is accompanied by a significant upfront funding pledge — reported by the party as around £1.6 billion — aimed at boosting capacity for large-scale removals. Supporters say the move is intended to demonstrate that the Conservatives will get tougher on immigration after years of public frustration about backlogs and irregular crossings.
Badenoch and her team have framed the policy as part of a broader offer of “strong borders” and cultural unity. The leader insisted the plan was “credible” and necessary to stop voters drifting to Reform UK and other hard-line rivals, arguing that stronger enforcement and new legal measures — including a pledge to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and restrict asylum claims by illegal entrants — are required to tackle the problem at source. But she declined, in live questioning, to give a detailed breakdown of where the 150,000 people would be deported to, saying only that they would not remain in the UK.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement has provoked fierce debate. Critics from across the political spectrum described the pledge as politically motivated, logistically implausible and legally fraught. Opponents noted that the UK’s removal rate under previous governments has been far lower than 150,000 — a gap that would require not only the force itself but also new bilateral return agreements, changes to asylum law and large administrative and detention capacity increases. Human rights groups warned that removing the UK from the ECHR and limiting legal avenues for asylum would expose people to danger and undermine established protections.
Labour and immigration lawyers seized on practical questions about the policy. They pointed out that mass removals at the scale promised would demand cooperation with countries of origin (many of which currently refuse or restrict returns), and that judicial and diplomatic obstacles are likely to constrain the speed and scope of any large-scale programme. Legal experts also warned of the risk of unlawful removals and appeals processes that would inevitably slow down the stated annual target. Several commentators asked whether the pledge was primarily a political signalling device to reassure sceptical Conservative voters rather than a fully costed operational plan.
The pledge has also raised immediate questions about civil liberties and policing. Badenoch used her conference speech to criticise recent pro-Palestine marches and argue for tougher limits on disruptive protests — comments that came alongside the immigration announcement and underline the party’s push on law-and-order themes this conference. Civil liberties groups have warned that adding enforcement powers for immigration checks and expanding detention powers could have chilling effects on minority communities and on the right to protest.
Internationally, the proposal recalls high-profile US policies that combined aggressive immigration enforcement with aggressive rhetoric. Supporters within the Conservative movement argue the UK needs a similar, visible enforcement mechanism to restore public confidence in border control. Detractors say that transplanting an ICE-style model into the UK context — with different legal frameworks, treaty obligations and diplomatic relationships — glosses over practical obstacles and potential human cost.
Badenoch’s announcement comes at a delicate political moment for the Conservatives: polling shows the party struggling, and Reform UK has been making electoral inroads by staking out even harder positions on migration. Party strategists say the tough stance is designed to stop defections and recover votes, but some senior figures fear the policy may further alienate moderate voters and complicate coalition-building ahead of any future election.
For now, the pledge will shift the focus of political debate toward implementation: where would mass removals be sent, under what legal framework, how will the state manage the logistics, and what safeguards will exist for vulnerable people and legitimate claimants? Those are the questions ministers and their opponents will keep returning to — and answers will be needed if the pledge is ever to move from headline promise to operational reality.
Bottom line: Kemi Badenoch has laid down a headline-grabbing target — deport 150,000 people a year — backed by a plan for a £1.6bn Removals Force and linked legal changes. The pledge has already sparked intense scrutiny over feasibility, legality and human rights implications, turning migration into a test case of whether the Conservatives can translate a political promise into practicable policy.
Sources: reporting from the Financial Times, The Guardian, Sky News, The Telegraph and The Independent.
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