Tensions between Britain and France have intensified after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage proposed deploying the Royal Navy to stop migrant boats crossing the English Channel from France and Belgium.
Farage said that, if his party wins power, it would launch what he described as one of the largest military operations in the Channel in decades, with the aim of preventing small boats carrying migrants from reaching the English coast.
The proposal represents a significant escalation of Reform UK’s anti-immigration policies and has already drawn skepticism from former senior British naval figures and French authorities.
“If the Royal Navy isn’t there to defend this country from invasion, then frankly I don’t see what the point of it is,” Farage said.
He also claimed that a Reform UK government could stop the crossings within two weeks of taking office.
“If we win the election, within two weeks a Reform government will stop it and there will be no more small boats crossing the Channel into England,” Farage said.
The proposal has been met with doubts over both its practicality and its legal implications. Defence experts have questioned whether the Royal Navy has the vessels and operational capacity required for such a mission.
One former defence figure warned that the more serious issue was the proposed use of Britain’s armed forces in an operation involving migrants in the Channel.
The plan could also create a diplomatic confrontation with France, a fellow NATO member. French authorities have reportedly warned that any British military operation extending into French territorial waters would raise serious questions over French sovereignty as well as international and maritime law.
Small-boat crossings have fallen overall, although there was a significant increase in arrivals last week, keeping migration across the Channel high on the political agenda in Britain.
Farage’s comments come as Reform UK faces a changing political landscape, with the party reportedly losing its long-held lead in opinion polls following the arrival of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government.
The proposal is likely to intensify the political and diplomatic debate over how Britain should respond to Channel crossings, while raising questions over the extent to which military force can legally and practically be used to address migration.
