Statement on Reform's detention centre announcement from Newcastle Lib Dem leader of the opposition Cllr Colin Ferguson

"Illegal immigration is a public concern, but it is disgracefully wrong to exploit the issue to win votes. There is a place for a sensitive debate about how national government determines how people in this country without leave to remain are deported after due legal process and humane treatment. This breathtaking pre-election announcement by Reform is not it.

The Reform proposal appears to be an abhorrent election stunt rather than a thought out and costed political proposal,. It presents the terrifying prospect of a Trump-style paramilitary force rounding up people from their homes, families, and communities in Newcastle and housing them in detention camps before mass deportations. It creates the appalling possibility of men, women, and children being detained in tents on the Town Moor behind barbed wire fences with watch towers. Will Newcastle Reform candidates rule out the possibility of their party’s national plan locating a detention camp in our city or region?

Whilst Reform UK and the Greens both promoting increasingly extreme views, Newcastle Lib Dems will continue to talk to people on the doorsteps about what really matters in Newcastle - building more council houses, fixing potholes and pavements, improving parks and play areas and addressing fly-tipping. That is what local elections are about."