Nigel Farage has confirmed talks with senior French figures on the small boat crisis, suggesting “attitudes are beginning to change”.
The Reform UK leader was speaking at a press conference where he outlined ‘Operation Fortress’, his plan to end illegal crossings of the English Channel which will come into force if his party wins the next General Election.
Answering a question from GB News, Mr Farage said French officials were shifting their thinking on the migrant crisis to a position of mutual benefit with Britain.
“Have we had talks with some senior French political figures about this? Yes. Attitudes towards this are starting to change”, he said.
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“They’re also beginning to realise that we have given them a lot of money and this would, in fact, be helping them with their objectives.”
However, the Reform leader cautioned his optimism with the warning that cooperation on the small boats into the future was not a certainty.
“So are we there yet? Can I guarantee you that they’ll welcome this with open arms? I can’t.
“But can I say there is a softening of attitude towards this position? Yes,” the Reform leader declared.
New figures have revealed the Home Office has paid around £8,000 per migrant stopped by France as part of the £600million deal Labour struck with Paris to tackle the crossings.
Robert Bates, of the Centre for Migration Control, said: “The French are laughing at us. It is clear they have no real interest in ending the Channel crisis.”
“We have some very major French elections coming up next year,” he told The Sun.
Late last year, Mr Farage met with French presidential frontrunner Jordan Bardella in London to discuss plans to “restore Europe’s borders”.
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The leader of the National Rally party pledged to change France’s border policy to support Britain in tackling the small boats crisis should he secure victory in next year’s elections.
Mr Bardella said he supported France’s right to return boats to their country of origin and pledged to apply the same principle to the UK.
“I can’t defend the notion of pushbacks and then refuse to allow Great Britain to do the same,” he said.
The National Rally leader also predicted that Mr Farage “will be the next Prime Minister” and branded the current “one-in-one-out” deal between France and the UK as a political “smokescreen”.
Speaking at his press conference today, Mr Farage said Reform’s new policy on small boats would bring “big upsides” to France.
“Life from Dunkirk through Calais, through Ardleigh. Moreau, all those rather beautiful little villages on Côte d’Or… Life is now hell”, he said.
“People stay locked in their houses. You can’t resell a house. There’s crime, there’s litter, there’s vandalism, there’s gang violence. There are stabbings. There are shootings.
“I mean, dealing with this problem would be a great, great relief to the people of northern France,” he said.
Operation Fortress would see Reform order the “largest military operation since World War Two” to end small boat crossings if the party wins the next General Election.
It would see the Royal Navy dispatched to intercept every migrant vessel attempting to cross from France – then take them back to French or Belgian waters.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, said Mr Farage would “order His Majesty’s Royal Navy to ensure that not a single unauthorised vessel crossing the English Channel makes it to the shores of the United Kingdom.”
He vowed that Britain’s border would become “impenetrable” under the new plan.
Reform’s blueprints include a joint military command drawing together personnel from the Navy, Royal Marines, the RAF and the British Army, alongside a dedicated surveillance unit tasked with monitoring approaching vessels.
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