Reform UK has said it would launch the “the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two” to tackle small boat arrivals, if it forms the next government.
Under plans set to be announced at a news conference later, the Royal Navy would intercept migrant boats in the Channel and return them to France or Belgium.
When it was put to the party that the UK could not return migrants without French agreement, home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf claimed it would be possible.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to be “relentless” on tackling small boat crossings, and stressed the UK needs to build a system that offers asylum seekers “safe routes”.
More than 2,000 migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats since Burnham became prime minister, and 326 people crossed the English Channel on Saturday. Home Office figures show crossings so far this year are down around 43% compared to the same period in 2025.
Reform’s plan called “operation fortress” has been endorsed by “former senior members of our armed forces”, Yusuf told BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
It would see Royal Navy vessels intercept all migrant boats in the Channel as part of a humanitarian response.
Yusuf described the scheme as “humanitarian missions” and insisted it would be compatible with rules under the European Convention on Human Rights as Article 2 protects the right to life.
International conventions on the sea allow for states to pick people up from boats if they are in danger of being lost but do not allow for them to be taken to another country without that nation’s consent.
Yusuf accepted that the UK and France may have “a diplomatic argument” if French authorities were to refuse to accept migrants escorted back to its shores, but insisted they have a “commitment under international law” to process migrants.
But Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh told BBC Radio 4 Today programme this would mean spending “a lot of time arguing with France”.
She agreed the government “absolutely needs to get a grip” on small boat crossings, but said Burnham’s team is cracking down on criminal gangs and boosting enforcement.
The prime minister visited Dover at the weekend, where he said the government was “changing the whole approach” to small boats, as the numbers of enforcement officers tackling people-smuggling gangs doubled on both sides of the Channel.
According to the Home Office, the number of National Crime Agency (NCA) officers tackling smuggling gangs facilitating small boat crossings had risen to almost 800 from 376 at the start of 2025.
Reacting to Reform’s proposals, retired Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe told the BBC the UK’s border force is better suited to managing migrant arrivals than the navy.
Warships designed for tasks including anti-submarine defences “are not best used for ferrying people around”, he explained.
“You’re better off using an actual ferry,” he said.
Meanwhile, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp insisted that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights should be the government’s priority to tackle illegal migration.
“That would enable us to deport every single illegal immigrant within a week of arrival,” he told BBC Breakfast. “Either back to their country of origin if possible, or a safe third country, for example Rwanda, if not.”
He said this would bring a “deterrent effect” as migrants would no longer cross the channel if they knew they would be deported straight away.
