Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has pledged to use the Royal Navy and Royal Marines to stop small boats reaching Britain as part of “the biggest military operation in the English Channel since the Second World War”.
Launching Operation Fortress alongside Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf at a press conference in London this morning, Farage said unauthorised vessels would be intercepted and illegal immigrants returned to France.
“What is the Royal Navy for?” Farage asked. “If the Royal Navy is not there to protect this country from invasion, then, frankly, I cannot see what its purpose is.”
Farage traced the Channel crisis back to the European Union’s response to the 2015 migrant crisis and Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome large numbers of immigrants into Germany.
He said Britain could have avoided the consequences by leaving the EU and “getting back control of our borders”, but argued that successive Conservative governments “never really believed in the Brexit project”.
Under the Conservatives, he noted 130,000 people arrived in Britain by small boat. He also criticised the payment of more than £1 billion to France despite its failure to prevent crossings.
“All the while the pull factor remains - coming to the UK and being able to stay - is still there”, Farage said. “It doesn’t matter how much money we give the French”, Farage said. “The boats will continue to come.”
Farage described the crossings as a “national security emergency”, pointing to reports that the Iranian regime has used small boats to send suspected operatives into Britain.
“It only takes one or two Iranian terrorists to come into Britain and commit a mass atrocity for this to be a disaster”, he warned.
Citing Australia’s policy of turning back migrant boats, Farage said: “I am entirely confident that, under a Reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats.”
Setting out the details of Operation Fortress, Yusuf said Reform UK would establish an integrated surveillance command combining military and intelligence capabilities.
“Any vessel attempting to cross illegally will be intercepted by our Armed Forces. It will return them back to France,” he said. “Not a single illegal migrant trying to reach our shores will make it to Britain.”
Yusuf said Reform UK would seek an agreement allowing immigrants to be handed over to the French authorities at a port. But he insisted that, if Paris refused, the Royal Marines would return them to the French coast.
“A Reform government will show unflinching resolve to ensure that people who set out from France to break into Britain go back to France”, he said. “That is our policy, not a future negotiating position with the French government. What France gets to decide is how that happens.”
“If the Élysée Palace refuses, make no mistake: His Majesty’s Royal Marines will disembark them safely on the very shore they left that morning.”
Yusuf said that the operation would also save lives, pointing to the deaths of more than 170 people attempting to cross the Channel since the small-boats crisis began. “Reform’s proposed military operation to secure our borders will save migrant lives too”, he said.
“The former Navy commanders who engineered this plan leave no room for doubt”, Yusuf added. “It can be done. It must be done.”
“This is how we will stop the boats for good”, he concluded. “Reform will end the invasion of Britain. Reform will put the British people first.”
Farage concluded that the issue came down to “a simple point: fairness.”
“Those who come to Britain legally now go through a long, expensive process”, he said. “It’s unfair on them.”
“And whilst this issue may not be uppermost in the minds of many in Westminster, I can tell you out in the country, it is.”
Watch the full press conference here.
Launching Operation Fortress alongside Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf at a press conference in London this morning, Farage said unauthorised vessels would be intercepted and illegal immigrants returned to France.
“What is the Royal Navy for?” Farage asked. “If the Royal Navy is not there to protect this country from invasion, then, frankly, I cannot see what its purpose is.”
Farage traced the Channel crisis back to the European Union’s response to the 2015 migrant crisis and Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome large numbers of immigrants into Germany.
He said Britain could have avoided the consequences by leaving the EU and “getting back control of our borders”, but argued that successive Conservative governments “never really believed in the Brexit project”.
Under the Conservatives, he noted 130,000 people arrived in Britain by small boat. He also criticised the payment of more than £1 billion to France despite its failure to prevent crossings.
“All the while the pull factor remains - coming to the UK and being able to stay - is still there”, Farage said. “It doesn’t matter how much money we give the French”, Farage said. “The boats will continue to come.”
Farage described the crossings as a “national security emergency”, pointing to reports that the Iranian regime has used small boats to send suspected operatives into Britain.
“It only takes one or two Iranian terrorists to come into Britain and commit a mass atrocity for this to be a disaster”, he warned.
Citing Australia’s policy of turning back migrant boats, Farage said: “I am entirely confident that, under a Reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats.”
Setting out the details of Operation Fortress, Yusuf said Reform UK would establish an integrated surveillance command combining military and intelligence capabilities.
“Any vessel attempting to cross illegally will be intercepted by our Armed Forces. It will return them back to France,” he said. “Not a single illegal migrant trying to reach our shores will make it to Britain.”
Yusuf said Reform UK would seek an agreement allowing immigrants to be handed over to the French authorities at a port. But he insisted that, if Paris refused, the Royal Marines would return them to the French coast.
“A Reform government will show unflinching resolve to ensure that people who set out from France to break into Britain go back to France”, he said. “That is our policy, not a future negotiating position with the French government. What France gets to decide is how that happens.”
“If the Élysée Palace refuses, make no mistake: His Majesty’s Royal Marines will disembark them safely on the very shore they left that morning.”
Yusuf said that the operation would also save lives, pointing to the deaths of more than 170 people attempting to cross the Channel since the small-boats crisis began. “Reform’s proposed military operation to secure our borders will save migrant lives too”, he said.
“The former Navy commanders who engineered this plan leave no room for doubt”, Yusuf added. “It can be done. It must be done.”
“This is how we will stop the boats for good”, he concluded. “Reform will end the invasion of Britain. Reform will put the British people first.”
Farage concluded that the issue came down to “a simple point: fairness.”
“Those who come to Britain legally now go through a long, expensive process”, he said. “It’s unfair on them.”
“And whilst this issue may not be uppermost in the minds of many in Westminster, I can tell you out in the country, it is.”
Watch the full press conference here.
