Lee Anderson declares war on Wales in asylum seeker row - ‘pull up the drawbridge!’

Reform UK’s Lee Anderson said his party wants to “pull up the drawbridge” to asylum seekers in Wales. Reform leader Nigel Farage on Monday delivered a speech in Port Talbot, sharing what his party would look to do if it were to gain power in next year’s Senedd elections.

He said Reform wants to “re-industrialise Wales”, with the long-term ambition of restarting Port Talbot’s blast furnaces and reopening coal mines, and putting “Welsh people” at the top of housing waiting lists. Mr Farage also said his party would stop any building being used for asylum seeker accommodation and scrap the Welsh government’s “Nation of Sanctuary” — the plan to support refugees and asylum seekers. Mr Anderson, Reform MP for Ashfield, said the party would take a hardline approach.

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Speaking to GB News, the former Conservative said if asylum seekers were continued to be sent to Wales by Westminster, then Reform should "push them out and put them into some of these Lib Dem and Labour constituencies”.

"Stick them in their attic. That will teach them," Mr Anderson added.

"We have the stomach for a fight over this and we will put the drawbridge up. We'll have a battle with Westminster because the people in Wales are on our side,” he told GB News.

Reform is looking to end Labour’s 26 years of power in the Senedd in the elections next May.

A recent poll suggests the party is on course to take its first seats in the Welsh parliament in 2026.

A YouGov/Barn Cymru poll asking people their voting intention for the election put Reform in second place with 25% of the vote, only behind Plaid Cymru with 30%, WalesOnline reports.

Reform, which has not yet announced a leader in Wales, also wants to stop any building being used for asylum seeker accommodation.

The GMB Union hit out at Mr Farage over the plans to restart Port Talbot’s blast furnaces, branding the proposals as “more lies from an opportunistic chancer”.

Political opponents also weighed in, including a Welsh Labour spokesperson who said: “Nigel Farage has today brought his fantasy politics and magic money tree to Port Talbot. He’s gambling with real people’s livelihoods.”

The Reform leader acknowledged the plan to open a new furnace would cost “in the low billions” and would be “no easy thing”.

He said: “It’s a massive, expensive job to reopen blast furnaces, we’re going to need cheaper energy, we’re going to need much cheaper coal, we are going to need private business partners prepared to come into a joint venture.”

Responding to the GMB Union allegations that his party’s plans were “lies”, Mr Farage said the union was tied to the Labour Party as one of its biggest funders.

He said: “They see us as a challenge, and therefore, they’ll be rude about us.”

Port Talbot’s remaining blast furnaces were shut down in September, with a new electric arc furnace being built in their place.

The owner of the plant, Tata Steel, said the closure of the furnaces was necessary, with the steelworks losing £1 million a day.