France blasts UK hard-right plan to use navy to stop Channel migrants
LONDON: France on Monday condemned a proposal by hard-right Reform UK party to launch, if it wins power, “the largest military operation” in the Channel “since World War II” to stop migrants crossing on small boats.
The party’s leader, Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, at a press conference unveiled a policy to deploy Britain’s Royal Navy to return small boats to France.
But the French interior ministry told AFP that the plan “would be a violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law and international law.”
The proposal comes days after tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish territory of Ceuta in north Africa from neighboring Morocco, reigniting Europe’s debate over irregular migration.
“What happened in Ceuta over the weekend shows you just how serious this situation is,” Farage told a press conference unveiling the new policy.
Farage wrote on X that “humanitarian missions do not violate maritime or international law,” and the party defiantly vowed to “stand up for British interests,” whether French President Emmanuel Macron “likes it or not.”
The hard-right party would need to win the next general election — not due until 2029 — to implement the proposal.
They come as Farage and Reform — which led national polls for around 18 months but have seen that lead disappear in recent weeks — are embroiled in a series of scandals and official probes into their finances.
In the latest, parliament’s standards commissioner said on Monday he had last week opened an investigation into an alleged “failure to declare” a financial interest by the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice.
The commissioner was already probing Farage for a separate alleged parliamentary rules breach. But that was suspended when the Reform head resigned as an MP to trigger a by-election next week that he is contesting.
Meanwhile, London police have confirmed launching a probe in February last year over donations to Reform ahead of the 2024 general election, following a referral from the Electoral Commission watchdog.
