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LBC's Natasha Clark takes a look at Reform's big policy announcement as they begin to slow down in the polls.
Reform UK wants to launch "the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two" to stop small boat arrivals from France.
A Nigel Farage-led government would send the Royal Navy into the Channel to intercept all migrant boats there and return them to France or Belgium under a plan called "Operation Fortress".
The party says the plan is in line with international law and that it will both halt small boat arrivals and act as a humanitarian response.
Zia Yusuf, the party's home affairs spokesman, said: "Britain is being invaded.
"Tory and Labour governments responded with a free ferry service and free hotels".
"Reform UK will respond by launching the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two".
"Nigel Farage will order His Majesty's Royal Navy to ensure that not a single unauthorised vessel crossing the English Channel makes it to the shores of the United Kingdom".
"Those who attempt it will be intercepted by our Armed Forces and returned to France."
He said the move would make the border "impenetrable" and that "nobody" will be able to make it to UK shores via small boat.
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0:00
Reform UK has set out the answer to what it says is one of the biggest issues in British politics
0:06
200,000 people have turned up on our beaches illegally, including murderers and terrorists
0:13
That's more people than stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The party says a reform government could end them within weeks under what they're calling
0:22
Operation Fortress. This would involve the military, tighter border enforcement and returning boats to France
0:29
They will be ordered to see to it that not a single unauthorised vessel
0:33
crossing the English Channel makes it to the United Kingdom. Supporters say this is exactly the kind of radical action that voters want to see
0:42
But critics say that parts of it are legally and practically much harder than reform will suggest
0:48
So what actually have they announced? How realistic is it? And what would actually lower those small boat crossings in the English Channel
0:55
Reform says it would launch the biggest military operation in the English Channel since World War II
1:02
It centres on the Royal Navy intercepting small boats before they reach Britain
1:07
and returning them back to France or Belgium It will save lives, it will help the French in fulfilling their job of stopping the boats
1:16
and it will save a huge amount of money When you think about it, what is the Royal Navy for
1:22
If the Royal Navy is not there to protect this country from invasion
1:29
then frankly, I can't see what its purpose is. Reform argues that simply demonstrating that boats will be turned back
1:36
would break that business model of the criminal gangs who were aiding those crossings
1:40
They point to success in Australia, where their government took tough action to turn boats around, which did see results
1:48
But that's where the questions begin. because stopping those boats at sea simply isn't just a question of having enough ships
1:55
Experts have pointed out that the UK cannot simply operate in French waters or on their beaches without their permission And returning people to France would require French cooperation to use their ports
2:07
Just hours after reforms announcement, a punchy statement was issued from France's Interior Ministry
2:13
The French Interior Ministry, for example, pointing out that in their view
2:17
this would constitute, as they put it, a violation of French sovereignty, as well as a violation of the law of the sea and international law, quite obviously
2:25
You can't enter French sovereign territory, French territorial waters without their permission in order to take back people who they haven't given us permission to take back
2:37
So it's almost certainly illegal. There's also the issue of using the Navy to conduct these returns in the first place
2:44
What can I tell you? It's nonsense. OK. Why do you say that, sir? Well, I'm ex-Rural Navy myself
2:49
Ah, right. Thank you for your service. So I do think you're welcome, but I do know about it
2:54
and the Navy will never tow a boat that's likely to tip over
2:59
and sink with people in it, especially innocent people. Have you seen those mostly black rubber dinghies
3:05
They've got, in some instances, 70, 80 people on board with them hanging over the edge
3:09
To try and turn it around in tides, it's not going to work. You'd sink it. You'd sink it
3:14
And the thing is, if you think about it, and people have seen films, I heard people ring up and put on the internet
3:20
oh, what are we paying the Royal Navy for? You know, just turn them back
3:24
But if you watch any war film, if the Royal Navy, even in the war, sank a ship, a German ship
3:31
they would pick up the survivors and vice versa. Yeah, of course. Because once someone's in distress at sea, your job in the Royal Navy is to rescue them, not to kill them
3:40
The current government says the Navy were technically in charge of channel operations under the last government
3:46
and those crossings still continued. And even if the Navy could be convinced, it's unclear if the resources would be made available to achieve them
3:54
We have the ships in place in the border force. The problem is not the migrants and returning them It actually processing them and deterring the migrants and leaving the beach in the first place I don think once you get to the sea because of the international law international law of the sea things become very difficult you have to treat these migrant boats
4:11
in a certain way you can't sort of cut corners and then say well we're going to use lethal force
4:16
to perhaps to get the boats to heave to and submit to boarding. How many warships would it take to
4:22
effectively patrol a bit of sea as as you say as as long as wide as the English Channel
4:28
Well, I mean, I think it's a bit like a curious... I mean, how long is a piece of string
4:32
I mean, I think it'll just be... Every part of the ship would be devoted to..
4:36
The entirety of the British Navy would have to be... Well, most of the frigates and the patrol craft
4:41
and other patrol craft and the Border Force would all be devoted to this
4:46
And, of course, the problem is that the traffickers will adapt too
4:51
both in routes, as we've seen. They're coming now from Belgium to Ferb. They're going all the way through to Normandy
4:56
It's not just about the Dover Straits. Our maritime interests extend. We die on Ireland
5:01
We have a long coastline. It's difficult. Small boat crossings have become a huge issue in British politics over the last decade
5:09
Successive Conservative governments promised repeatedly to stop the boats, but never eliminated those crossings
5:15
They hit a peak in 2022, with 46,000 people making the dangerous journey
5:20
When Labour came to power, Sir Keir Starmer argued the answer lay in working with European partners
5:26
targeting the criminal gangs and increasing returns. Part of that was creating a one-in, one-out deal with France
5:34
meaning illegal migrants would be returned there from the Channel, in return for asylum seekers, whose claim had been approved
5:40
But not everyone was convinced with how the plan was developing. We've had 350 people come into the country from France and 281 have been removed
5:51
There are very normal discrepancies in these numbers. This has been running since August, has it? Yes
5:56
Well, you're not going to term that a success, are you? Well they are Look they are still relatively small numbers But the thing I would say is this was a pilot In 2025 41 people crossed the English Channel and you talking about the low hundreds This is a disaster No I think it look it was
6:12
always a pilot and it was designed to try to prove that this new model of working with the French
6:17
could work. At the end of 2025, it looked as if Labour were failing on their promise to stop those
6:23
crossings with the number rising to 41,000 after having fallen the year before. But so far this
6:29
year the numbers of people who have crossed is less than at this point last year leading the
6:34
government to say again that their plan is working. Now we have a new Prime Minister Andy Burnham who's
6:39
been down to Dover to see the situation for himself but he acknowledges that there is far more to do
6:45
I've come down on Sunday to see the team to listen to what they think needs to be done
6:51
what further can be done. So we're just going to be relentless
6:55
People want to see this issue addressed. I heard that on the doorsteps in Makerfield
6:59
But we also need to build a system that offers safe routes for people as well because that also takes away the selling point of the gangs
7:07
So on every level, we've got to come at this, but crucially, increasing the enforcement activity
7:13
So there's been a doubling of enforcement officers through the National Crime Agency on the UK side of the channel
7:19
and French specialist officers are now similarly doubled in number working on the beaches over there
7:26
So a big ramping up of activity this summer. It's having results, but we are not complacent
7:32
Much more needs to be done. Ministers are also pointing out increased enforcement activity
7:36
against people smuggling gangs and increased returns of people with no right to remain in the UK
7:41
Most experts argue that reducing crossings is possible. Where politics becomes involved is questions about how it can be done
7:48
and how quickly. When immigration becomes the centre of British politics, voters are increasingly
7:54
being asked not just who has the toughest language, but whose plan would actually work
7:59
Operation Fortress will go down very well with reformed space, but whether it could actually be implemented is another question
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