Nigel Farage vows to ban asylum seekers with HIV from receiving NHS treatment

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has doubled down on his 2015 pledge to ban asylum seekers with HIV from receiving NHS treatment.

Mr Farage, who led Ukip when he first made the controversial pledge, sparked fury from left-wing politicians during a televised debate held before the 2015 General Election after warning migrants were costing taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds a year by receiving treatment for the retrovirus infection.

Reiterating his position at a rally in Aberdeen, Mr Farage said: “The idea that somebody can newly arrive in Britain and get expensive NHS treatment, whether it’s for HIV or hepatitis or whatever it is [...].

“Truth of it is: this is a national health service. It is not an international health service.”

NHS guidelines currently allow asylum seekers to receive NHS treatment for HIV even if the Home Office has refused their claims.

Mr Farage suggested in 2015 that British taxpayers were coughing up around £25,000 a year to pay for migrants to receive HIV treatment on the NHS.

He said at the time: “You can come into Britain from anywhere in the world and get diagnosed with HIV and get the retro-viral drugs that cost up to £25,000 per year per patient.

“What we need to do is to put the NHS there for British people and families, who in many cases have paid into the system for decades.”

Ed Miliband, who was leader of the Labour Party at the time, described the comments as "disgusting".

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Zack Polanski's Greens would add millions of migrants to UK population, report warns

Zack Polanski's Green Party would likely add millions of migrants to the UK's ever-growing population, a damning new report has revealed.

City investment bank Panmure Liberum estimated that Mr Polanski's open borders policy would drive net migration to around 900,000 a year — pushing the UK population from 71.5 million in 2029 to 75.9 million by 2034.

Meanwhile, Reform UK's plan would keep net migration at around 40,000 a year, while the Tories would add approximately 160,000.