Hard-right Reform U.K. vow to use navy to stop small boats
The Reform U.K. party has proposed using the Royal Navy to intercept and return migrant boats to France if they win power. The policy announcement coincides with ongoing parliamentary investigations into the party's leadership and finances.
Why it matters
The proposal highlights the intensifying political debate over immigration policy in the U.K. and the controversial tactics of the Reform party.
The hard-right Reform U.K. party unveiled plans on Monday (August 3, 2026) for, if it wins power, "the largest military operation" in the Channel "since World War II" to stop migrants crossing on small boats.
The proposal — which experts and other political parties promptly rubbished — comes days after tens of thousands of migrants entered Spain's North African exclave of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco, reigniting Europe's debate over irregular migration.
"What happened in Ceuta over the weekend shows you just how serious this situation is," Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who leads the anti-immigration Reform, told a press conference unveiling the new policy in a 28-page document.
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