Reform UK leader Nigel Farage visits Crowborough

He went on a walkabout during the afternoon, meeting with supporters in town.

A statement on Reform UK Sussex Weald’s Facebook page said: “Amazing to have a visit from a certain Nigel Farage in Crowborough today.

“He made time to speak to everyone and loved talking to us about Crowborough and his past visits to our town.”

At the end of March Mr Farage voiced concern about the Home Office’s decision to house asylum seekers at Crowborough Army Camp.

The Reform UK Leader spoke to the Sussex Express ahead of his appearance at his party’s rally at the South of England Showground on Wednesday, March 25.

The Home Office had said in January that it had started to move asylum seekers into former military site.

Mr Farage expressed his opposition to the plan, saying: “If I was a resident of Crowborough, I’d be very concerned. Not so much for the use of, basically, an ex-army camp, which is really what it is, but for the fact that those who go in there are free to walk the streets and that’s the issue.

“I actually think young men coming across the English Channel in huge numbers being free to roam our streets is a national security issue. So whether you put them in hotels, which drives everybody mad, which makes small towns like Crowborough anxious, or houses of multiple occupancy in the middle of streets all over the country, either way it’s not acceptable, it’s not fair."

In response to Mr Farage’s comments at the end of March, a Home Office spokesperson said at the time: “This government is removing the incentives drawing illegal migrants to Britain. That is why we will close every single asylum hotel, moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation like the Crowborough former military site.

“Public safety remains our first priority, which is why mandatory security checks are conducted on all asylum seekers through linking their biometric data to immigration, security and criminality databases. Specialist security are on site 24/7 with CCTV and strict sign-in procedures for residents.”