Reform UK and France’s National Rally have agreed a cross-Channel migration pact, promising tougher border controls and the return of asylum seekers arriving in Britain by small boat
if both parties secure power.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and National Rally president Jordan Bardella unveiled the agreement at Reform’s annual conference in Birmingham, presenting it as a joint strategy to dismantle the migration route across the English Channel.
Under the memorandum of understanding, asylum seekers who reach Britain from France by small boat would be detained and returned to France. The French authorities would then be expected to arrange their return to their countries of origin.
The two parties also proposed a mechanism under which Britain and France would share the costs associated with strengthening border security.
Addressing the Reform conference, Bardella pledged that a National Rally government would take steps to prevent France from becoming a staging ground for irregular migration to Britain.
“I make you this promise: if the French people give us the presidency, our government will do everything in its power to make sure that France is no longer the gateway for illegal migration into Britain,” Bardella told delegates, prompting a standing ovation.
He later joined Farage on stage to formally sign the agreement.
A new alliance on migration
The pact brings together two of Europe's increasingly influential populist parties at a time when migration remains one of the most politically charged issues in both Britain and France.
For years, successive British and French governments have struggled to prevent migrants from attempting the dangerous Channel crossing in small, often overcrowded inflatable boats.
The agreement nevertheless faces significant legal and political hurdles. Reform has previously proposed returning migrants to France without seeking French permission, an approach rejected by the French government as an infringement of French sovereignty.
Last month, Reform said it would launch what it described as the biggest military operation in the Channel since the Second World War if it entered government, with stopping small boats at the centre of its migration strategy.
The latest agreement appears designed to provide a political framework for cooperation with a future National Rally government rather than relying solely on unilateral British action.
National Rally eyes the French presidency
The announcement also underscores the growing links between Reform UK and National Rally as both parties seek to turn anti-immigration politics into a route to national power.
Opinion polls have put National Rally leader Marine Le Pen in a strong position ahead of France's next presidential election. She is expected to perform strongly in the first round and remains a leading contender for the presidency.
In Britain, Reform has also emerged as a major challenger to the established parties. After leading national opinion polls for much of the past year, the party is now closely competing with Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party.
The next UK general election must take place no later than 2029.
Channel crossings remain a political flashpoint
More than 16,000 people have been detected crossing the Channel to Britain in small boats since the beginning of the year, according to the figures cited in the report. That represents a fall of more than 40% compared with the corresponding period.
However, the decline in crossings has not removed pressure on the British government. The number of people travelling on individual boats has been rising, as smuggling networks adapt their methods and attempt to move larger numbers of migrants in each crossing.
Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans for additional police deployments along beaches in an effort to deter departures.
The issue has become a central battleground over Britain's borders, sovereignty and relationship with France.
Farage embraces Le Pen’s political transformation
Farage has previously been cautious about associations with France's far-right political tradition. He said he had been uncomfortable with Marine Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was a controversial former presidential candidate and longtime figure in France's far-right movement.
But Farage has praised Marine Le Pen for reshaping National Rally and moving it towards the political mainstream.
He described her efforts to remove what he called the party's “extreme elements” and broaden its appeal as a major political achievement.
The new Reform-National Rally agreement marks a further step in that relationship — and signals the emergence of a more coordinated populist approach to migration and border policy on both sides of the Channel. Photo by Mstyslav Chernov/Unframe, Wikimedia commons.
