Dear Jack,

After 12 years of failure, the latest Tory minister says he’ll stop illegal immigration. At the very same time, civil service officials are preparing for illegal migration to double in 2023. That is 80,000 illegal arrivals in the UK. Tory betrayal knows no bounds. 

They are taking us for fools. In fact last week Rishi Sunak told us so. He said anyone who disagrees with him is an idiot.  At least he is telling us what he really thinks. The only surprise is they still think they can get away with it.

They won't. In 2022 net migration numbers reached a record high of 504,000. Over 45,000 illegal migrants crossed the channel, most smuggled over by criminal gangs. Five out of six illegal migrants are young men. Most come from safe countries.  Many are sent to 4-star luxury hotels that most tax-payers could never afford. It is an utter disgrace. And now we know it will get even worse.

So the latest announcements are just more Tory talk. But why now?

Last Spring I made it clear that we will pick up illegal migrants and take them back. This can easily be done with existing laws. The Tories know it. They just don’t want to do it. At £7 million per day for processing contracts and housing, their friends make too much money from illegal immigration. 

That is why they are rolling out the same old lines. You can probably count the number of times you’ve heard them. They say they are going to cut red tape. Yet another make-believe agreement with France. More fast-track deportations that never happen.

But here's the best joke of all. In November the new immigration minister said the government has a 10-point plan. Is this the same plan Rishi Sunak told us about last July? After which, about 25,000 more illegal migrants crossed the channel.

Sadly it is. Not one promise kept. No small Boats Taskforce. No cap on the number of refugees accepted. Almost no deportations or prosecutions. The government are far too busy working out how to arrest people for thought crime.

The problem is we are still in the European Convention on Human Rights. We are also part of the UN Refugee Convention. This gives asylum-seekers the right to travel to the UK through safe countries. And the civil service are still politicised in favour of open-borders.

There is a shadow immigration system in place. It's a one-way street to benefits Britain. And we pay for it.

The truth is that neither the Tories nor Labour will make any difference. Only Reform UK will break this bureaucratic hold over us. Only we have the bold leadership and political will to get the job done. We will stop this humiliation.

That is why hundreds of new members are joining us every day. In the national polls we are nearly at half of the Conservative vote share. With a general election perhaps only 18 months away our momentum is  growing fast.

So I am hugely grateful to all of you, my fellow reformers, for your support and the fantastic work you have done. At street stalls, on the door-steps and at campaign events around the country, we are offering the British people a choice. For the first time in generations we are fighting for a real alternative to the Westminster establishment. This is just the beginning. Together we will make Britain great.

Thank you for your continued support,

Richard Tice
Reform UK Leader