REFORM UK has announced plans to use the Royal Navy to stop small boat crossings in the English Channel if the party wins the next general election.
Under its proposed "Operation Fortress", migrant boats would be intercepted in the Channel, with those on board detained, given food and water, before being returned under naval escort to France or Belgium, reported The Times.
The party's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said the plan had the backing of "Commanders [in the Navy] and other highly experienced former senior members of our armed forces". Reform is due to publish a 21-page policy document.
Small boat migrant arrivals in UK cross 200000 mark
After visiting the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, Yusuf said he had witnessed "the militarisation of that border". He told the BBC there were "thousands of Spanish troops, armoured vehicles" carrying "basically weapons of war".
He added: "I saw soldiers using pepper spray and interacting directly with migrants acting in a disorderly fashion. In using the military, what I saw was Spain able to remove [and] effectively send back what looked like north of 40,000 illegal migrants in the space of a day."
Labour said Reform was repeating proposals it announced last summer. Yusuf acknowledged France would likely reject the plan and "probably attempt to have a diplomatic argument with us."
Small boats return to Channel as migrant crossings resume
The announcement came as prime minister Andy Burnham said the government would be "relentless" in reducing Channel crossings.
Home Office figures showed 2,057 migrants had arrived since he took office on July 20, including 326 people in four boats on Saturday.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government's measures were beginning to "bear fruit" but added it "will go further", saying: "I share the public's concern every time they see images of people crossing the Channel."
