Nigel Farage blasts Home Office for not publishing migrant crime data

Nigel Farage has slammed the Home Office for refusing to publish data on the number of crimes committed by migrants. The Reform UK honorary president said every effort has "hit a brick wall", despite mounting concern over a number of high-profile incidents.

Mr Farage said anyone who wants to talk about crimes committed by migrants "are called all the names under the sun".

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice collect and publish data on offenders, including age, gender, whether they were under the influence of drugs, where an offence was committed and their previous convictions.

But Mr Farage said on his GB News show: "One of the battles I've been having is, through FoIs [Freedom of Information requests], to try and find out about migrant crime.

"As soon as you talk about immigration and crime, you can imagine what the cries are. You are called all the names under the sun.

"But doesn't the British Government owe us this data? We've seen all these incidents, the alkaline attack on Clapham Common, the bombing at the maternity hospital, the stabbing in Reading, again and again and again, we see evidence of those coming into Britain illegally committing serious crimes.

"All of our efforts to get the British Government to come clean on this have absolutely hit a brick wall."

Mr Farage pointed to "league tables" published in Denmark, setting out the prevalence of crimes committed by migrants.

He added: "And it showed that people who have recently come in to Denmark had conviction rates 40 times higher than that of those who were born in Denmark.

"They are absolutely stunning figures.

"As a result of it, Denmark is going to keep a very, very tight immigration policy."

Fury over the UK's lax borders has intensified after failed asylum seeker Abdul Ezedi was allowed to stay after claiming he had converted to Christianity.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault and exposure in 2018 but was still granted asylum.

Ezedi is believed to have arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry and had been denied the right to stay twice before finally convincing a judge he was a Christian.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary James Cleverly are under intense pressure to cut migration to the UK.

In December, Mr Cleverly announced plans to slash net migration by 300,000 by focusing on student visas and limiting the number of dependents foreign health and social care workers can bring with them.

The Government is also scrambling to stop the boats, with arrivals this year higher than in 2023.

People have been intercepted in the Channel for 10 consecutive days.