LONDON - Reform UK on Monday set out a hardline immigration proposal that its leader, Nigel Farage, described as the biggest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two. The policy, which the party has named "Operation Fortress," aims to intercept asylum seekers who attempt the crossing in small boats and return them to France, with the party saying the measures would make Britains border "impenetrable."
At a press conference, Farage said the plan would deliver rapid results, asserting that "Under a Reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats." He cited the situation in Ceuta - a Spanish North African enclave experiencing a migration surge - as part of the rationale for adopting a tougher stance on arrivals by sea.
Reforms announcement comes as the party confronts waning public support and scrutiny over its financing. The party has lost its lead in national opinion polls for the first time in over a year after disclosures about gifts and donations to senior party figures, developments that have raised questions about its funding and political standing.
Labour seized on the announcement, accusing Reform UK of recycling previously aired immigration proposals to divert attention from the partys financial controversies. Critics outside the political arena also raised practical and legal concerns about how the scheme would operate.
Andrew Fox, a former paratrooper and senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, described the plan as attractive in rhetoric but problematic in practice. He said the proposal "sounds magnificent, provided you know nothing about ships, sailors, France or the law." Fox highlighted key obstacles, noting that Britain could not unilaterally move warships into French territorial waters, seize vessels, or disembark passengers on French soil without French permission.
Fox emphasised that permission from French authorities would be necessary for several actions envisaged by the plan, identifying a legal and diplomatic gap at the heart of the policy. "This is the gap at the centre of the policy," he said.
The policy announcement arrives amid parallel statements from the government. Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Sunday pledged "relentless" action to stop asylum seekers after official figures showed that more than 2,000 people had arrived in Britain since he became leader two weeks ago.
The outcome of Reforms proposal will depend on a range of legal, diplomatic and operational variables raised by experts and political opponents, as well as the partys ability to withstand scrutiny over its funding while seeking to regain public support.