England-France Clash! Nigel Farage Calls for Military Action Against Small Boats in the English Channel, Paris Hits Back

A heated dispute has erupted between England and France after Nigel Farage, leader of the populist, anti-immigration Reform Party and one of the best-known figures associated with promoting Brexit, said he intends to use the Royal Navy to turn back small boats carrying migrants from France or Belgium toward the English coast.

Farage said that, in the event of an election victory, a Reform Party government would act within two weeks to stop the crossings and that there would be no more small boats crossing the English Channel toward England.

Under his plan, the largest military operation in the English Channel in decades would be launched with the aim of preventing migrants arriving by small boat. This represents a hardening of the party’s anti-immigration stance as it faces a sharp decline in support and has lost its 16-month lead in public opinion polls following the rise to power of new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Reform’s immigration policy proposal has been met with skepticism by former senior figures in the British Royal Navy and by the French authorities. “If the Royal Navy is not here to defend this country from invasion, then, frankly, I do not understand the point of its existence,” Farage said.

Small-boat crossings have fallen significantly, although a noticeable increase was recorded over the past week. Several prominent figures and experts on migrant arrivals have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the proposed plan.

Another defense expert highlighted two main problems. “First, the Royal Navy does not have the ships needed for such an operation. Second, and more seriously, the Royal Navy, like the Army and the Air Force, is part of the armed forces. I do not believe the proposal is that we should start firing weapons at people in the English Channel,” he said.

Such an intervention would risk triggering a direct military confrontation between the two NATO allies. Senior French authorities responded by warning that such a plan would violate France’s sovereignty, international law and maritime navigation rules.