By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-10 12:46:44 | Updated at 2026-08-10 13:05:02
20 minutes ago
Talk is cheap – and our politicians do an awful lot of it.
Empty promises, unfulfilled manifesto pledges and, of course, the downright lies.
I do not know about you, but I am sick of it.
That said, it does not stop me listening to those that want to run the country or to those that actually do.
I must be a glutton for punishment.
Some of these politicians make me swear at the telly.
Others make me reach for the remote control.
But today a politician had me absolutely gripped as he gave an interview to GB News.
El Salvador was riven with violent crime and had the highest murder rate in Latin America
GETTY
I like Zia Yusuf; I’ve never met him, but the Reform UK home affairs spokesman's no-nonsense, straight-talking manner has got me thinking that he is the kind of bloke who would get things done.
I also get the impression he might operate on a short fuse and be a demanding fella to work for, but all of that really appeals to me, because as one of my former bosses once wrote about me on my annual performance report: "Bleksley does not suffer fools gladly."
El Salvador is a relatively small Central American country with a population of some 6.4 million people – around a million more than Scotland.
Not so many years ago it was riven with violent crime and had the highest murder rate in Latin America.
Zia Yusuf announced a Reform UK policy of sending foreign prisoners to El Salvador
GB NEWS
Gangs ruled the roost and impoverished citizens lived in fear... but then came President Nayib Bukele.
Under his firm and unshakeable leadership, his country has been transformed.
Law enforcement and the military challenged the gangs head-on, and the gangs lost.
Scores of thugs were handed huge sentences that are being served under harsh circumstances.
El Salvador is now widely regarded as a safe nation.
I was glued to the telly this morning when Mr Yusuf announced a Reform UK policy of sending foreign prisoners to El Salvador to serve their sentences if they could not be returned to their home countries.
I had recently seen footage of row upon row of shaven-headed El Salvadorian prisoners shackled to one another, seated on the ground, and presided over by heavily armed guards – and these videos had made me smile.
Do not do the crime if you cannot do the time.
The prospect of sending foreigners who come to Britain, who then go on to abuse our hospitality by committing crime on our streets, to prisons in El Salvador is nothing short of brilliant.
There are no direct commercial flights to El Salvador, but I suspect planeloads of foreign and violent criminals will probably have to be transported on military planes.
They might have to refuel en route, in the way that military flights to the Falklands do, but surely all of this is relatively easy to arrange.
In the unlikely event Mr Yusuf is reading this, I did a bit of research on his behalf in an effort to keep future costs down.
El Salvador exports a variety of goods to the UK – including coffee, sugar and various items of clothing.
The sums involved are relatively modest, with those exports being worth up to £30million.
If these military planes are suitably adapted so the seats the prisoners occupy on the way out can be removed or folded away, meaning they only take up a small amount of space, then on the return flights, the planes could transport some of these goods.
Whilst those logistical matters seem simple, the legalities of doing all of this will be complex.
Some human rights lawyers have represented some truly revolting people and won cases on their behalf.
Thereby, in my opinion, damaging the best interests of this country.
I am certain many legal experts will be sharpening their pencils and jumping at the chance to frustrate any policy of deporting foreign murderers, rapists and gun-toting drug dealers to jails in El Salvador.
So, Mr Yusuf, whilst glossy policy documents and headline-grabbing announcements like today’s are great, please invite to your future press conferences the highly experienced, capable and determined lawyers who will establish a concrete and undefeatable legal framework so that your fabulous words can be converted into deeds.
Then, and only then, will I begin to sharpen my own pencil, in advance of my next visit to the ballot box.
