Nigel Farage has signed a pact with French politician Jordan Bardella to end the small boats crisis across the English Channel. The agreement, which would see thousands of migrants returned after entering British waters, was announced at the Reform conference in Birmingham and is part of Reform's vow to bring an end to the crisis within 100 days of taking power. Mr Farage and Mr Bardella signed a memorandum of understanding on stopping the boats, with Mr Bardella stating that his National Rally party will no longer allow France to be a "gateway for illegal migration into the UK" if they win elections next year. The pact is seen as a key part of Reform's plans to introduce legislation to address what they describe as a national emergency in Britain.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
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Story summary
Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform party in the UK, has signed a pact with Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally party in France, aimed at stopping the influx of migrants crossing the English Channel. The agreement, which was signed on stage at a Reform conference in Birmingham, would allow for thousands of migrants to be returned to their countries of origin after entering British waters. According to Bardella, if his party wins elections next year, France will no longer be a "gateway for illegal migration into the UK." The goal is to end the crisis within 100 days of taking power. Bardella stated that the English Channel should no longer be an immigration route and that migrants entering France should be returned to their countries of origin, not sent to the UK.
Written for “Farage Migrant Deal Announced” on 2026-09-05,
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Leaning score +0.85 for article 3868 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-04
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Nigel Farage has unveiled a pact with French firebrand Jordan Bardella to stop the Channel boats 'forever'.
Mr Bardella told the Reform conference that if his National Rally party wins elections next year France will no longer be a 'gateway for illegal migration into the UK'.
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France → see → UK
He joined Mr Farage on stage to sign a deal that would allow thousands of would-be migrants to be returned after entering British waters.
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thousands → join → waters
The agreement is at the heart of Reform's vow to bring the crisis to an end within 100 days of taking power.
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agreement → bring → power
Mr Bardella told activists in Birmingham: 'The English Channel must no longer be an immigration route to Dover and Folkestone.
'
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Channel → tell → Dover
The destination of illegal migrants entering France should not be the United Kingdom, they should be returned to their countries of origin.'
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they → enter → origin
French firebrand Jordan Bardella (left) told Nigel Farage (right) that his National Rally party is ready help close the Channel to small boats
Mr Bardella and Mr Farage signed a memorandum of understanding on ending the small boats crisis today
He continued: 'We must put an end to these deadly routes, we must break the smuggler business model and together we must take control of our borders.'
Thanking Mr Bardella, Mr Farage said he was forging a new 'entente cordiale' with France.
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he → tell → France
He said Reform and the National Rally were signing a memorandum of understanding on stopping the boats.
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Reform → say → boats
Announcing the pact, Mr Farage said: 'We are about to sign an historic document that will stop the boats forever.
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that → announce → boats
The deal would see illegal migrants who crossed the Channel from France returned to the country by the Royal Navy.
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who → see → Navy
'This is a momentous agreement and shows that both Reform UK and the National Rally are serious about stopping the illegal migrant invasion, fixing our borders, and putting our own people first,' the Reform leader said.
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leader → show → people
The National Rally is regarded by many as the favourite to win French elections next year.
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Rally → regard → elections
Mr Bardella is hoping to become prime minister, while Marine Le Pen is competing to succeed Emmanuel Macron as president.
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Pen → hop → president
Mr Farage has been using the conference to try to get back on the front foot, despite the furore over a donations sting that has forced two key aides to step aside.
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that → use → aides
The Reform leader is declaring a 'national emergency' on his first day in government, introducing a flood of legislation and doing 'anything and everything' to deliver his party's policies.
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leader → declare → policies
In a keynote speech later he will say: 'Within days of winning the general election, we will introduce dozens of Bills and force Parliament to sit all through summer for seven days a week to pass them.
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we → say → them
We don't have time to wait around to fix it.'
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We → have → it
