Reform UK have just published their big plan to stop the small boats — Operation Fortress — and, frankly, it's just not right. On paper it sounds tough: Royal Navy River Class patrol vessels, RHIBs, helicopters from Doncaster, P8 Poseidon aircraft and drones to force every small boat back into French waters.
In practice, as I explain in this video, it collapses on three grounds. First, it's illegal. Forcing dinghies back violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and French sovereignty — you can't just dump people in France's waters. Second, it's logistically absurd — you'd need to station warships permanently in the Dover Strait (the busiest shipping lane in the world, 400-500 large vessel movements a day), manhandle people who don't want to go into RHIBs, fly helicopters 200 miles from Doncaster, and even threaten "lethal force" if French police intervene. One photo in the document shows an aircraft carrier — to stop a rubber dinghy. And third, it's diplomatically impossible — as one of Reform's own endorsers admitted, France will never agree to take them back. It's another fantasy policy — after the £1bn Rwanda farce — paid for by the taxpayer.
