Reform UK has vowed to shut down major companies that refuse to pay fines for employing illegal migrants, unveiling a tougher enforcement regime as Britain’s Conservatives increasingly adopt policies first proposed by Nigel Farage’s party.
Under the plans, companies caught employing illegal workers would face fines equivalent to 10% of their global turnover, while senior executives could be jailed for up to five years. Businesses that refused or were unable to pay the penalties could ultimately be dissolved.
Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said the proposed “Deliveroo Law” was intended to ensure existing rules against illegal employment were properly enforced.
“If a company chooses not to pay the fines or is incapable of paying the fines rendered on them as a result of hiring illegal migrants, they would expect to be enforced upon,” Yusuf told The Sun.
He said sanctions could extend “all the way up to being dissolved, being struck off basically, just like if they didn’t pay their taxes.”
Money raised from fines would be used to compensate victims of migrant crime and fund schemes to revive struggling high streets. Farage has also proposed a public tip line for suspected illegal employment, with police required to investigate reports.
The announcement forms part of Reform’s increasingly expansive immigration programme. The party has previously announced plans for large-scale deportations of illegal migrants, new detention facilities and Britain’s withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, announced their own immigration-related proposal this week, pledging to bar most foreign nationals from social housing in England.
The party estimates that ending new tenancies for most foreign nationals, while removing some existing tenants, could free around 228,000 homes for British families.
But the move follows a similar—and more stringent—proposal announced by Farage in June. Reform said foreign nationals in social housing would be required to move into private accommodation within three months, while the Conservative plan would give affected tenants six months.
The Conservatives would also continue to allow EU nationals with settled status to qualify for social housing, prompting Yusuf to accuse the party of copying Reform without going far enough.
“Reform UK will ensure British social housing is strictly for British citizens,” he said. The competing announcements illustrate Reform’s growing influence over Britain’s immigration debate, with the Conservatives increasingly under pressure to demonstrate that they can match Farage’s tougher approach.
