Nigel Farage accused the Tories of “shameless posturing” over their bid to change Labour’s immigration legislation. The Conservatives have tabled a series of amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

The proposals include requiring all foreign nationals convicted of a crime to be deported and hiking the salary thresholds for all work visas to be raised to £38,700. But the Reform UK leader highlighted how net migration to the UK hit record levels under the Tories.

Mr Farage said: “The latest announcement from the Conservatives is shameless posturing from a party that was responsible for one of the biggest policy failures in modern British history for which they should never be forgiven.

“The only reason we need to deport so many foreign criminals in the first place is because of the Tories total failure in government.

“They had 14 years to deport illegal criminals yet they allowed their numbers to spike and illegal immigration to run wild.

“It should not be forgotten that in 2020, the Tories cut the migrant salary threshold by 30%, what followed was record levels of mass immigration.

“Kemi Badenoch is now proposing raising it to a level that, when adjusted for inflation, is still £6,000 lower than the pre-2020 threshold. The Tories aren’t serious about cutting immigration.

“The British public voted on four separate occasions for the Conservatives to control immigration and after each vote it got worse, not better.

“Only Reform are serious about ending mass immigration, leaving the ECHR, deporting illegals and controlling our borders once and for all.”

In another amendment, the Tories are calling for the Government to stop issuing visas to nationals of countries who do not take back their own citizens.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “These tough new measures show the Conservatives are prepared to do whatever it takes to deport foreign criminals from the UK.

“If a foreign citizen commits a crime here, we should kick them out – it is as simple as that.

“We can’t allow endless appeals and prevarication – the Government has a duty to protect British citizens from these often dangerous offenders.

“And where another country won’t take back their own citizens – including criminals – then the Government must stop issuing new visas to people from those countries.”