As well as freeing up places, Yusuf said: “There will be a lot more people in prison under a Reform government.”
He added that “killers, rapists and thugs will never be released a day early”.
The party claims that its proposed law changes, including reinstating short sentences for shoplifters and ensuring serious offenders serve out their full terms, would increase the prison population by 18,000.
This would be covered by the 22,000 places made available under Reform’s deportation and Nightingale plans, the party says.
Reform UK has pledged to build 12,400 new places in Nightingale prisons on Ministry of Defence land within 18 months of forming a government, at a cost of £5bn over the next Parliament.
The Nightingale label is a reference to the network of emergency temporary hospitals set up during the Covid pandemic.
The prison population in England and Wales on 3 August was 86,495, which was 97% of useable capacity.
The Ministry of Justice has warned the prison population will overtake capacity as soon as this November.
Labour said Reform’s proposal was not a “serious prison plan”, adding: “Nigel Farage knows full well that renting prison places overseas would take years to arrange and does nothing to tackle the pressures we face now.”
A spokesperson for the party said Labour was building 14,000 additional places and had removed 10,000 foreign criminals since the 2024 election, up 36% on the previous 21 months.
