Nigel Farage points 3-word response to claims France will intercept migrants | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Nigel Farage has dismissed French claims they’ll start intercepting Channel migrants.

The Reform UK chief mentioned, regardless of rhetoric from Paris, that gendarmes stand and watch asylum seekers trying to succeed in Britain earlier than the French navy “escorts” them to the median line.

And he slammed the “ludicrous” state of affairs of British and French vessels arranging handy migrants over in the course of the Channel.

The Daily Express on Wednesday obtained one other recording of French officers discussing handing out lifejackets to migrants. On this event, they “engaged” with a dinghy and counted what number of had buoyancy aids, earlier than permitting the vessel to proceed on in the direction of British waters.

Mr Farage mentioned: “I just don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it. We have given France half a billion quid and now the Government are actually giving out lifejackets.

“You know, we’d heard a story a month ago that they are going to stop boats from leaving shallow waters. Plenty of videos that I’ve put out over the last couple of days are just them standing there watching them.”

Told UK sources are hoping interceptions may start from the tip of May, Mr Farage issued the three-word response mentioned: “It won’t happen.”

Asked if he believed the French guarantees to do extra to cease Channel crossings, the Reform UK chief mentioned: “No, no, no, no.

“The French navy escort the boats to a 12-mile line. You could listen to them talking on the radios, and Border Force are happy to take them. It’s ludicrous.

The Reform UK leader added that Sir Keir will “oversee a record number of illegals coming to the UK”. More than 700 migrants are feared to have crossed the Channel on Tuesday, breaking the file for the variety of arrivals on a single day this yr.

Slamming Labour’s file on immigration, the Reform chief advised supporters: “Channel crossings so far this year are over 40% higher than they were last year, and that’s before we get the warm weather. That’s before temperatures in the Channel increase.

“So we’re on for a record year and there’s no sign of anyone crossing the Channel being deported. Nobody that comes is going to be deported because, and the Prime Minister made very clear in only his second speech in the Commons as Prime Minister, how wedded he was to the European Convention on Human Rights.

“As far as we are concerned, this is about sovereignty, and we will leave the ECHR if we’re in Government, we’ll repeal the Human Rights Act and stop our now somewhat corrupted judiciary from using this at every opportunity to not deport people.”

The French are giving migrants lifejackets as a result of the small boats disaster is getting worse.

And the Daily Express has obtained one other recording of a Border Force vessel discussing whether or not the French navy ship has given migrants lifejackets.

The French advised Border Force Ranger they had been following a dinghy carrying 60 folks, with “at least five children and six women”.

They then verify that they’ve “engaged” with the small boat, including there aren’t any search and rescue operations linked to that dinghy.

The captain then reveals: “There are just 10 lifejackets. No extra lifejackets have been given to this boat.”

The dinghy was amongst 12 to succeed in the UK on Tuesday, it’s understood. It will immediate renewed fury over the French handing out lifejackets to migrants as an alternative of intercepting them and taking again to the seashores.

Some 705 migrants arrived within the UK on Tuesday after crossing the English Channel, based on provisional figures from the Home Office.

It is the best variety of arrivals on a single day to date this yr. The cumulative variety of arrivals by small boats in 2025 now stands at a provisional whole of 8,888.

This is 42% increased than on the identical level final yr, when the full stood at 6.265, and 81% increased than at this stage in 2023, when the full was 4,899. There had been 12 boats that arrived on Tuesday, which suggests a mean of round 59 folks per boat.

The file for the best variety of arrivals on a single day is 1,305, which occurred on September 3, 2022.