Farage’s Logical Fantasy 101 – The False Dichotomy Trick

An opinion piece

A false dichotomy (or false dilemma) is a rhetorical device that pretends only two extreme options exist, when in reality there are many other possibilities.

This is exactly how Reform UK have framed their latest immigration plan.

Nigel Farage has said the UK must detain and deport everyone arriving in small boats, including women and children [* addendum – see note] , sending them back to the countries they fled, or to regimes we pay to take them, even places like Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Potentially to face being tortured or killed. When challenged on the human cost, he replied: “the alternative of course is to do nothing… we just do nothing, we allow this problem to magnify and grow.”

This false framing hides the truth: there is an array of choices available, and it also ignores how the present system has been built.

•   Safe and legal routes have been shut down or restricted. Outside a handful of limited schemes (for Ukrainians, Afghans, and Hong Kong nationals), most people fleeing war or persecution have no legal way to apply from abroad. That lack of options is exactly what drives desperate people into small boats.

•   Applications are slow and inefficient, with huge backlogs leaving people stuck for months or even years.

•   Asylum seekers are banned from working while they wait, leaving them idle and dependent when they could be contributing.

•   Hotels and detention centres are routinely used, an expensive and unsuitable response that warehouses people instead of enabling proper integration. The resulting anger is not caused by the people themselves, but by successive governments cutting local services, choosing not to fund them properly, and allowing right-wing media, populist politicians, and far-right groups to exploit the situation for political gain.

   •   The rise in small boat crossings is not an accident. It is the direct outcome of policy choices made by successive governments: closing down safe routes, cutting investment in asylum systems, and fuelling a hostile environment.

So the choice is not “detain and deport everyone” or “do nothing.” There are many other, better ways forward.

Alternative approaches to asylum and migration include such ideas as:

•   Reopen and expand safe legal routes so people can apply before travelling, cutting out traffickers and dangerous crossings.

•   Develop humanitarian resettlement programmes and community sponsorships, allowing people to come through managed and transparent systems.

•   Allow people to work while claims are processed, reducing state costs and helping integration.

•   Invest in efficient casework with proper staffing to clear backlogs and avoid years of limbo.

•   End the routine use of hotels and detention centres, supporting accommodation within communities instead. Reserving secure detention only for rare, exceptional cases.

•   Remove punitive fees and barriers such as the Immigration Health Surcharge and family income requirements.

•   Recognise new categories of protection, including those displaced by climate breakdown.

•   Support integration locally through access to healthcare, education, housing, and practical measures like free bus travel.

•   Address root causes internationally through peacebuilding, fair trade, and climate action, so fewer people are forced to flee.

And there are many other perspectives and approaches beyond these. The idea that there are only two options is simply absurd. With even a little critical thinking, the “detain and deport everyone vs do nothing” framing falls apart. It is not a real choice. It is an extreme, oversimplified narrative that obscures reality and disrespects the British public by pretending the issue is nothing more than a crude binary.

Other examples of Reform UK’s false framing

•   On migration, their so-called “legal reset” is pitched as: either the UK tears up all human rights treaties and deports everyone, or we’re helpless in the face of chaos. That frames basic rights as an optional extra rather than a cornerstone of law.

•   Their “Britannia Card” is presented as a simple win-win: rich new arrivals pay £250,000 and everyone benefits. In reality, it’s a distraction that rewards wealth and dodges deeper questions about inequality and tax justice.

•   Their flagship “Net Zero rethink” claims we either scrap climate targets altogether or condemn ordinary families to crippling bills. This erases the well-documented alternatives of fair green investment, public ownership of energy, and progressive funding.

None of this is new thinking. It’s political spin dressed up as disruption – questionable style over substance, oversimplification over solutions. Reform UK want to pass themselves off as the new opposition, but this isn’t bold change. It’s a remix of the oldest trick in the book: reducing complex problems to false choices, while keeping politics safely in the realm of business as usual.

 

* A few hours after this article was written Nigel Farage changed his mind: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/27/nigel-farage-rolls-back-on-vow-to-deport-all-small-boat-arrivals-to-the-uk