The former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell has caused some controversy by demanding "Mass deportation of Pakistanis from Britain" in a tweet on X. He also said that "I don’t care how long you’ve lived here. Out". This came in the aftermath of the Baroness Casey report on grooming gangs that finally outlined the high levels of over-representation of Pakistani men in these type of crimes. In a follow up tweet he suggested that "Mass deportation is now the moderate position."

Carswell sat as a Conservative and then as a UKIP MP (between 2014 and 2017) in the seat which is now held by Nigel Farage. He is currently the President of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy in the United States. 

He was recently given space by the Daily Telegraph and by others such as GB News to outline an immigrant deportation plan, though only based upon the level of their economic contributions. In an article entitled "Migrants are draining our welfare system. Here’s how we fix that" he proposed a 'Public Benefit Test', based upon net contributions and tried in other countries such as Denmark. In this piece he only focused on those given Indefinite Leave To Remain.

Now, in his latest statements he has moved on to wider considerations such as general public harm and applied it even to those who are currently British citizens and of those descended from several generations in Britain.

His tweet has riled certain section of the online commentariat. A pro-immigrant commentator Katwala who is the head of an organisation called (Non-)British Future, funded by the government and open borders trusts, complained that Carswell was a "vocal opponent of both racism and nativism in 2016". Jemima Goldsmith formerly married to the ex-Pakistani Prime Minister Khan, was shocked that "This post is the new normal in 2025 Britain (by a former MP)." The pan-Islamist organisation Five Pillars screamed that it was "racist rhetoric" that "is becoming more mainstream in Britain." Mehdi Hassan, formerly of the New Stateman, MSNBC and Al Jazeera said that it was in stark contrast to a time when politicians "had to masquerade their bigotry and pretend they weren’t racists but now the masks are well and truly off."

Other more leading voices and newspapers have avoided covering this issue, which may be due to the fact that Carswell lives in a country which prizes freedom of opinion and where such views are not under daily threat by the legal system. Or they might just wish to avoid giving this viewpoint additional publicity.

Carswell grew up in Uganda, which famously under Idi Amin deported every South Asian from that country, even those who had lived there for generations. About 30,000 of them relocated to Britain, including the families of Priti Patel and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. His parents were doctors there and his father detected the first known case of HIV whilst they lived in Uganda during this tumultuous expulsion process. 

Carswell has previously called out the discriminatory treatment that British people suffer under our legal regime and warned of the dangers of us becoming a minority in our homeland:

Some aspects of the full discussion with Carswell were more compelling than others. There was no discussion for instance, on how to address the ticking bomb of demographics. Small steps for the people in this corner, though, including ethnic interests and tradition.

Full… pic.twitter.com/khl13b0mF3

— TraditionalBritain (@TradBritGroup) March 22, 2025

The irony is that Katwala, like a stopped clock, was correct. Carswell broke with UKIP for being too anti-immigration and he had long pushed libertarian points of view which traditionally favoured open borders and meritocracy. An earlier article in the Guardian featured him and outlined his then views that "the party must show it is inclusive and not blame immigrants for Britain’s woes if it is to become a serious force" and "a dislike of foreigners was not merely offensive but absurd.”

Like the commentator Matthew Goodwin, who himself worked with some despicable Antifa organisations and state-connected entities to attack the Right, Carswell seems to have had something of a Damascene conversion in how he views the world. Or are there other explanations?

UPDATE: Sadly, it appears that Carswell is either playing word games or seeking to avoid political trouble. In responding to alarm by some of his followers over his recent blanket statement, like in a Motte and Bailey rhetorical defence, he has fallen back on his previous Telegraph article positions. This takes the approach that only those who are here illegally or a net burden should be in scope. The fuller piece can be read here. In the image below, we have added the relevant Substack points he made in this context to his (backtracking?) tweet.