France says Reform UK Channel migrant plan would violate law

France condemned Reform UK's proposal to use Britain's Royal Navy to stop small boats crossing the English Channel and return migrants to France if the party wins power. The French interior ministry told AFP the plan would violate French sovereignty, maritime law and international law.

Nigel Farage unveiled the policy on Monday, saying Reform would deploy the Royal Navy to return small boats to France. Zia Yusuf, the party's home affairs spokesman, described the proposal as “the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two”.

Farage said Reform could stop the boats “within a fortnight” and wrote on X that “humanitarian missions do not violate maritime or international law”. Reform said it would stand up for British interests whether French President Emmanuel Macron “likes it or not”.

Yusuf said any French resistance “would be a crime against humanity” and added that, if the Elysee Palace refused, Royal Marines would disembark migrants “safely on the very shore they left that morning”.

Reform would need to win the next general election, which is not due until 2029, to implement the plan.

Former Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe told AFP that using the navy to ferry people back to France against French wishes “doesn't add up”. The Conservative government proposed and quickly abandoned a similar policy in 2020.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer two weeks ago, said on Sunday that his government would be “relentless” in curbing the crossings. Since taking power in 2024, Labour has said it is seeking to “smash the gangs” that facilitate the journeys, including through increased cooperation with France.

Britain and France signed a three-year agreement in April under which London agreed to pay Paris up to 766 million euros, or $897 million, to boost French law enforcement. The British government says its approach is working, citing a year-on-year fall of more than 42 percent in small boat arrivals in the first half of 2026, to just over 14,000 people. Recent weeks have seen a rise, including 752 arrivals on July 29, the highest daily figure reported for the year.

The announcement came as Reform faced investigations into its finances and parliamentary declarations. Parliament's standards commissioner said on Monday he had opened an investigation into an alleged failure by deputy leader Richard Tice to declare a financial interest. A separate inquiry into Farage was suspended after he resigned as an MP to trigger a by-election he is contesting next week. London police have also confirmed an investigation into donations to Reform before the 2024 general election after a referral from the Electoral Commission.

Farage denied that the small-boats announcement was intended as a distraction.