Lead
Reform UK on Monday unveiled a plan to deploy the Royal Navy to stop small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel, calling it "the largest military operation" in the area "since World War II." The proposal, dubbed "Operation Fortress," would see the military intercept boats and return them to France or Belgium. It comes days after tens of thousands of migrants entered Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta from Morocco, reigniting Europe's debate over irregular migration.
Coverage comparison
The plan was met with immediate criticism from political opponents and at least one military expert. A retired Royal Navy commander, Tom Sharpe, told the BBC's Today programme that the proposal "lacks quite a lot of substance" and that a warship configured for anti-air or anti-submarine warfare would be better used countering actual military threats than ferrying people around. "You're better off using an actual ferry," he said, according to The Guardian.
Sharpe also noted that the navy did not have suitable ships to spare given existing military operations. He pointed out that a similar plan put forward by the Conservatives four years ago had led to crossings almost doubling, with the navy used as a "taxi service" and the government paying private firms millions annually to pick people up in the Channel.
Labour dismissed the proposal as a "reheated" announcement in what a party spokesperson called "their latest desperate bid to distract from their growing sleaze scandals." The spokesperson added: "Anger and easy answers won't bring crossings down. The serious action we've taken have started to have a real impact and has led to 46,000 attempted crossings stopped, and 70,000 people with no right to be here removed."
Nigel Farage, Reform UK's leader, denied the announcement was a distraction stunt, as reported by France 24 and The Hindu. The party's home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, insisted that any French resistance to the plan would be a crime against humanity, according to the same outlets.
Key claims
- Reform UK has proposed a joint military command involving the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, RAF, and British army, along with a surveillance command to track incoming boats, as detailed in a 28-page policy document.
- The plan would involve the military intercepting small boats and taking them back to France, a measure proposed and swiftly abandoned by the Conservative government in 2020.
- The proposal comes days after tens of thousands of migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco, which Farage cited as evidence of the seriousness of the situation.
- Official provisional figures indicate that 14,526 people have entered the UK via small boats so far in 2026, 43% lower than the number recorded by the same time last year (25,436) and down 14% on the same period in 2024 (16,903), according to The Guardian.
- Farage is fighting a by-election after resigning his seat of Clacton amid a deepening donations scandal, including an alleged failure to declare a £5m gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
- Reform UK is losing support to Restore Britain, a breakaway party further to the right, according to The Guardian. Rupert Lowe, a figure associated with that party, has extended an olive branch to Farage, offering a deal to unite the "patriotic right" of British politics.