Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage and National Rally President Jordan Bardella have signed a landmark agreement to tackle the illegal immigration crisis on both sides of the Channel. Farage called it “a genuine new entente cordiale between our parties and our countries”.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the main stage at Reform UK’s 2026 National Conference in Birmingham. It commits a future National Rally-led French government to accept the return of illegal migrants who launch from French shores, enter British territorial waters and are returned to France.
The agreement would support Reform UK’s proposed Operation Fortress, under which the Royal Navy and Royal Marines would intercept small boats, remove everyone on board, and return those attempting to reach the UK illegally to France.
Bardella told the conference that, if the French people elect the National Rally in 2027, his government will ensure that “France is no longer the gateway for illegal immigration into the United Kingdom”.
“The destination of illegal migrants entering France should not be the United Kingdom”, he said. “They should be returned to their countries of origin.”
Bardella said the Channel “must no longer be a migration route to Dover or Folkestone”, adding: “We must put an end to this deadly route. We must break the smugglers’ business model. And together, we must take back control of our borders.”
He also pledged that a National Rally government would pursue a simple immigration policy: “You do not enter France simply because you have decided to. You enter France because France has allowed you to.”
Farage said the agreement demonstrated that Reform UK and the National Rally were united in their determination to restore border control.
“This is a momentous agreement and shows that both Reform UK and the National Rally are serious about stopping the illegal migrant invasion, fixing our borders, and putting our own people first”, he said.
The deal follows Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf’s announcement that a Reform government would stop the boats within its first 100 days in office.
Watch the conference livestream here.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the main stage at Reform UK’s 2026 National Conference in Birmingham. It commits a future National Rally-led French government to accept the return of illegal migrants who launch from French shores, enter British territorial waters and are returned to France.
The agreement would support Reform UK’s proposed Operation Fortress, under which the Royal Navy and Royal Marines would intercept small boats, remove everyone on board, and return those attempting to reach the UK illegally to France.
Bardella told the conference that, if the French people elect the National Rally in 2027, his government will ensure that “France is no longer the gateway for illegal immigration into the United Kingdom”.
“The destination of illegal migrants entering France should not be the United Kingdom”, he said. “They should be returned to their countries of origin.”
Bardella said the Channel “must no longer be a migration route to Dover or Folkestone”, adding: “We must put an end to this deadly route. We must break the smugglers’ business model. And together, we must take back control of our borders.”
He also pledged that a National Rally government would pursue a simple immigration policy: “You do not enter France simply because you have decided to. You enter France because France has allowed you to.”
Farage said the agreement demonstrated that Reform UK and the National Rally were united in their determination to restore border control.
“This is a momentous agreement and shows that both Reform UK and the National Rally are serious about stopping the illegal migrant invasion, fixing our borders, and putting our own people first”, he said.
The deal follows Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf’s announcement that a Reform government would stop the boats within its first 100 days in office.
Watch the conference livestream here.
