Scottish immigration detention centres would be put in seats that elect a Green MSP if Reform UK wins power at Westminster, the party has said.
On Sunday home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf announced that a Reform UK government at Westminster would not build immigration detention centres in seats held by the party’s MPs, or where they were in control of the local authority.
Instead Mr Yusuf said Green voters will “get what they vote for” as part of Reform’s push for mass deportations.
Important new Reform policy: pic.twitter.com/y9R9P5Gqyt
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) May 3, 2026
The announcement created a dilemma for Reform in Scotland because polls suggest the party could return MSPs in each of the country’s seven regions after Thursday’s election.
Asked for clarity on how the policy would be executed north of the border if, as polls suggest, Nigel Farage becomes prime minister, Reform councillor Thomas Kerr said the detention centres would be built in constituencies that elect Green MSPs, and areas that elect a Reform constituency MSP would be exempted.
“Ross Greer and his army of crackpots’ pursuit of open borders, which would allow swathes of foreign criminals to enter Scotland unchecked, is not only economically reckless but a danger to national security,” Mr Kerr said.
“But let’s not kid ourselves – John Swinney’s entire future hinges on these extremists, so Scotland needs to know what they are getting.
“If the Greens are so keen to welcome these people then they can take responsibility and put them up in their own constituencies.
“The choice is clear: Vote Green, get illegals.”
Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer likened the policy to “bullying” of the electorate.
“Reform UK are now openly threatening voters,” he said.
“Scots will not take kindly to this kind of bullying.
“Offord and Farage want to turn this country into Donald Trump’s America, a place where those who oppose their hateful politics are threatened and attacked.
“People across Scotland are ready to reject this vile outfit of ex-Tories, conspiracy theorists and billionaires. This latest threat shows that the best way to do that is by voting Scottish Greens on your regional, peach-coloured ballot paper.
“The fact that they are led in Scotland by a multimillionaire lord who owns six homes, six boats and five cars tells us everything we need to know about these chancers. Reform has no interest in making people’s lives easier.
“Compare that to the Scottish Greens. We delivered free bus travel for young people. We scrapped peak rail fares. And we are prepared to go even further, with free bus travel for all and a childcare system that families can actually afford.
“All over Scotland this vote will go down to the wire between the Scottish Greens and Reform. Every ballot will be crucial. Let’s show that hope and unity will always defeat hate and division.”
Speaking in Dumfries, First Minister John Swinney said: “I simply think this is an illustration of the dangerous nature of Reform’s politics.
“If there was an illustration of an attempt to divide communities, that policy announcement epitomises it.
“That is division, divisive politics, in practice and I’ve made it clear, that’s why I’ll have nothing to do with Reform, that’s why there will be no place for Reform in the governance of Scotland, if I become the first minister and I have the majority in the Scottish Parliament, because we cannot go down this route.
“It is the route to division, to disorder and it divides our communities and I will have none of it.”
