Former army chief Lord Richard Dannatt has identified immigration as an issue for British citizens, suggesting that engagement with Afghanistan's Taliban regime might become necessary to address the crisis.
Lord Dannatt told GB News that "the issue that's most concerning the general public at the present moment is the issue of migration" and it may be worth working with the Taliban to address it.
His comments come as Reform UK has unveiled "Operation Restoring Justice," a £10billion programme aimed at removing 600,000 asylum seekers within five years of taking office.
The initiative allocates £2billion specifically for negotiating repatriation agreements with nations including Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea.
Lord Dannatt public’s 'top concern' and Taliban talks may be needed
|GB NEWS
Speaking on GB News, Lord Dannatt said: “It doesn't take the brains of anyone to work out that the issue that's most concerning the general public at the present moment is the issue of migration.
"And Nigel Farage, in a somewhat Trump like way, has put some pretty radical policies out on the table.
“And of course, it's the most radical end of those policies that are attracting the attention; will we or will we not deport people to Afghanistan?
"Will we or will we not have a conversation with the Taliban? And that is what actually is focusing people's minds.
“But the majority of what he is saying, I think a large number of people in this country would agree with that more has got to be done to control the illegal migration into this country, to get the numbers down, yes, the numbers who are coming across in in small boats, and to settle this issue, which is causing a lot of angst up and down the country, of single men being held in hotels.
“There's a whole range of issues there and Nigel Farage is in opposition, so he's not calling the shots at the present moment.
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"But the luxury that he has in being in opposition is that he can put pressure on the Government and on the official opposition, and making them up their game, and thinking and working even harder how they're going to address this.
“The great tragedy of our 20 year engagement, up to 2014 when combat operations stopped, and 2021 when we left Kabul in some form of panic, quite unnecessarily, in many people's view, is that the good work that was built up over 20 years within Afghan civil society was undone at a stroke; undone by the return of the Taliban.
“Now we know that the Taliban have got a dreadful human rights record, and quite rightly decent Governments don't want to talk to them.
“But there is a thought that if we are going to consider sending failed asylum seekers from Afghanistan back to Afghanistan, there's got to be some form of dialog with the Taliban.
Reform UK has unveiled 'Operation Restoring Justice'
|POOL
“Maybe some forward dialog over time, not overnight, but over time, might lead to a change in their attitude, maybe an improvement in their human rights record."
Zia Yusuf, Reform's efficiency tsar, defended the proposal as "quite reasonable", stating that Britain currently provides Afghanistan with £151million in annual development assistance.
The party's blueprint involves establishing legislation that would render all asylum claims from illegal arrivals inadmissible, whilst placing a statutory obligation on the home secretary to ensure their removal.