Reform UK and France’s National Rally Sign Memorandum on Channel Migrants

At the Reform UK conference in Birmingham, party leader Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally (RN), unveiled a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU). It states that, should Reform UK and the RN each form government, the UK would intercept small-boat vessels launched from the French coast and France would “ordinarily accept” the intercepted persons before returning them to their countries of origin. The MoU is conditional on both parties holding power simultaneously and includes parallel English- and French-language texts. Reform UK described the agreement as fully approved by both sides and signed off by Bardella and the RN presidential team.

UnherdUnherdThe GuardianNigel Farage joined by Le Pen's right-wing ally as Reform leader vows to return small boats to France

Channel-crossing small boats have long been a flashpoint between Britain and France. Marine Le Pen, the RN’s former leader, opposed returning migrants rescued by the UK to France, preferring deportation to the migrants’ home countries. Farage previously rejected any alliance with the RN when it was led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, citing “prejudice and antisemitism.” Over the past year, Farage cultivated a relationship with Bardella, positioning the MoU as a demonstration of “pan-European nationalism.”

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• Small-boat arrivals in the UK are at a six-year low.

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• Between June and August, 102 small vessels reached the British coast.

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Bardella told reporters in Italy that a future RN government would implement “much tougher border controls” to prevent migrants from reaching France, thereby lowering the number reaching the UK.

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Farage, responding to media inquiries about a Channel 4 investigation into foreign donations to Reform UK, asserted that “nothing illegal” had occurred and that the party was “blindsided” by the revelations. He emphasized that the MoU is a “declaration of intention” that would be refined if the parties attained power.

Nigel Farage joined by Le Pen's right-wing ally as Reform leader vows to return small boats to France

• Benjamin Haddad, France’s Europe minister, condemned the MoU as “submission” that harms French sovereignty.

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• Gabriel Attal, former centrist prime minister, called Bardella’s stance “total submission” and questioned whether France would become “the gatekeeper for the English.”

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• Édouard Philippe, former prime minister, described the agreement as “hypocrisy and division” within the RN.

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• Xavier Bertrand, head of the Hauts-de-France region, said the deal reduces France to “Britain’s subcontractor.”

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• Chris Philt, Conservative shadow home secretary, dismissed the MoU as “a complete farce” lacking detail or hard work.

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• “You claim to be patriots, you’re cowards.” — Gabriel Attal

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• “Reform UK’s deal with Jordan Bardella is a complete farce … Time and again, Reform prove they are fundamentally unserious with grand claims for the cameras, with none of the detail or hard work that might survive actual scrutiny.” — Chris Philp

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• “The English Channel must no longer be a migration route to Folkestone or Dover, where thousands of people risk their lives in the hands of criminal smuggling gangs with the complicity of the leftists,” — Jordan Bardella

Nigel Farage joined by Le Pen's right-wing ally as Reform leader vows to return small boats to France

The MoU will only take effect if Reform UK and the RN simultaneously form governments in the United Kingdom and France. No concrete timetable has been announced for implementing the proposed border-control measures, and French political leaders continue to question the feasibility and sovereignty implications of the agreement.

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