Election / Reform mass deportation centre plans condemned by Armitage
AN ELECTION candidate says he has been left “chilled to the bone” by a controversial Reform UK plan to open mass deportation centres in Green-voting areas.
Alex Armitage, who is standing for Scottish Greens at Thursday’s Scottish elections, has again likened Reform’s actions to that of fascism.
It comes after the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf pledged to open migrant detention centres in constituencies controlled by the Greens, claiming this was because of the party’s support for “open borders”.
Reform has said that, if it is elected into power, it will build centres to detain up to 24,000 people to be deported from the UK.
The proposal has sparked angry opposition from other parties, with Reform also saying it will not open deportation centres in areas where it has an MP or where it controls the local council.
Armitage said he was “chilled to the bone” by the idea of detention camps and mass deportation and said he was even more concerned that the idea came from a party likely to win seats in Holyrood this week.
“Greens are being targeted because we are the party that is genuinely offering a positive alternative to Reform UK, to an electorate that is feeling increasingly disillusioned and alienated by the status quo,” Armitage told Shetland News.
“Greens are taking action to reduce inequality and the cost of living, we are defending human rights and we’re confronting the power of huge corporations like SSE, Equinor and Statkraft.”
Armitage repeated his view that the actions of Reform can be likened to fascism, something which has previously drawn criticism for him.
“Fascism doesn’t first appear with uniformed men marching on our streets.
“It starts off insidiously with the erosion of human rights, the targeting and blaming of minorities and the promises of a charming and charismatic leader to fix all our problems.
“For me, Reform UK are ringing all these alarm bells.”
The Greens received a large amount of online criticism for their counter-protest against the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s visit to Shetland last month.
And while Armitage said that some folk may have “felt embarrassed and uncomfortable” by the protest, he added he felt a “far greater discomfort” would be felt if Reform were elected.
If they were, he claimed a British version of America’s ICE agents would “roam our streets” and mass deportation centres would open in Scotland.
“Voting for the Scottish Green Party on the orange ballot paper is the most powerful thing you can do to oppose Reform UK in the election this Thursday,” he said.
“Electing [list MSP candidate] Kristopher Leask would be a powerful antidote to the far right in Holyrood.”
Reform UK’s election candidate for Shetland, Vic Currie, was contacted for response but did not reply.
The full list of confirmed Shetland candidates for the election on 7 May, in alphabetical order, are as follows: Alex Armitage (Greens), Douglas Barnett (Conservatives), Vic Currie (Reform UK), John Erskine (Labour), Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP), Emma Macdonald (Liberal Democrats), Brian Nugent (Alliance to Liberate Scotland), Peter Tait (independent).
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
