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Retired commander says policy lacks substance as party accused of trying to distract from Nigel Farage’s scandals A Reform UK proposal to use the military to stop small boats bringing migrants to the UK from France lacks substance, a former Royal Navy officer has said, suggesting the UK’s warships would be better used countering actual military threats. Reform’s political opponents have claimed its plans have more to do with distracting from the financial scandals surrounding its leader, Nigel Farage, than about solving the small boats issue, after the party proposed having the navy pick up people trying to make irregular Channel crossings and take them to France. “A billion-pound warship that’s configured for anti-air warfare or anti-submarine warfare, which are both threats to the UK, is not best used ferrying people around. You’re better off using an actual ferry,” the retired Royal Naval Cmdr Tom Sharpe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday. Sharpe said Reform’s proposal “lacks quite a lot of substance” and that the navy did not have suitable ships to spare, given the military operations it was already carrying out. He added that the proposal seemed very similar to a plan put forward by the Conservatives four years ago, while that party was in government. During that time, crossings almost doubled, the navy was said to have been deployed as a “taxi service” and the government handed millions of pounds per year to private firms to pick people up in the Channel. Labour said Reform had “reheated an old announcement in their latest desperate bid to distract from their growing sleaze scandals”. A spokesperson said: “Anger and easy answers won’t bring crossings down. Yusuf added: “This is a boat full of innocent civilians who are being rescued as part of a humanitarian mission.” He did not explain how his party’s policy of refusing to allow any to make it safely to the UK’s shores would not constitute the same. He said his party would also tell French authorities they must abide by obligations under international law to process those people’s asylum claims “because it is a safe country”.
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Retired commander says policy lacks substance as party accused of trying to distract from Nigel Farage’s scandals UK politics live – latest updates A Reform UK proposal to use the military to stop small boats bringing migrants to the UK from France lacks substance, a former Royal Navy officer has said, suggesting the UK’s warships would be better used countering actual military threats. Reform’s political opponents have claimed its plans have more to do with distracting from the financial scandals surrounding its leader, Nigel Farage, than about solving the small boats issue, after the party proposed having the navy pick up people trying to make irregular Channel crossings and take them to France. Continue reading...
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A plan put forward by Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party to deploy the navy to intercept and return asylum seekers arriving by boat has triggered a dispute with France.[1]
The judge, Mr Justice Sheldon, has quashed a Home Office policy change to refuse asylum seekers the right to have their trafficking claims reconsidered after an initial rejection.[2]
It is the first ruling of its kind and could lead to more people affected by the “one in one out” policy being brought back to the UK.[3]
He said his party would also tell French authorities they must abide by obligations under international law to process those people’s asylum claims “because it is a safe country”.[4]
Israeli raid deepens fears across West Bank refugee camps Israeli forces expanded their military operations in the occupied West Bank, carrying out a new raid on a refugee camp as journalists reported growing restrictions and violence.
A plan put forward by Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party to deploy the navy to intercept and return asylum seekers arriving by boat has triggered a dispute with France. Reform leader Nigel Farage, who is under political pressure at home over a series of financial scandals and faces a by-election in just more than a week, characterised the mission dubbed “Operation Fortress” not as pushbacks but as “rescue and return”. He argued that, per its humanitarian nature, the measure would not breach international law, as stated by the French Ministry of the Interior. Pointing to the arrival of thousands of migrants in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta, Farage on Monday pledged, if elected, to stop a similar “invasion” by launching the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War II. He said the measure would ensure that people are “immediately returned to their point of departure”. Responding to France, Reform said: “We will always stand up for British interests and protect our people, whether [President] Emmanuel Macron likes it or not.” Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s spokesperson for home affairs, claimed France “sent us 200,000 illegal migrants, including murderers and terrorists”, and that marines would return them anyway to the French coast. Sarah Singer, professor of refugee law at the University of London, described the plan as a “complete waste of military resources”. While returning asylum seekers could be read as an “act of aggression” by France, it would also run counter to international law, said Singer. “Summary expulsions are contrary to UK and European law, which requires those seeking protection to have their cases individually assessed to determine if they can safely be removed,” the lecturer told Al Jazeera. Sarah Wolff, professor in international studies and global politics at Leiden University, noted that while military boats had worked in the past – the Italian Navy mission Mare Nostrum that operated between 2013 and 2014, which had medical facilities on board, was said to have saved tens of thousands of lives and allowed for asylum applications to be processed in Italy – Reform UK’s scheme would instead “return migrants back to France and not take any responsibility for processing asylum applications”, making it equivalent to a pushback. Before exiting the European Union in 2020, the UK had been able to return asylum seekers to the country of first entry under the Dublin Convention, which established the rule of first entry to avoid multiple asylum claims. “Now, it has no means to return them back to an EU country,” Wolff told Al Jazeera. “So it is a bit ironic that (Reform UK, then known as the Brexit Party) which campaigned at the time to ‘gain back control’ is now offering solution to a post-Brexit migration situation it contributed to create.”
As home affairs minister’s National Press Club address is postponed, refugee advocates lament missed ‘opportunity to bring Australians together’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor will introduce new rules to cut net overseas migration and push temporary residents to leave Australia, despite a major speech on the subject by the home affairs minister, Tony Burke , being delayed. But government sources told Guardian Australia the policy changes would not push net overseas migration lower than the existing target of 295,000 people this financial year. The ABC reported on Wednesday that Burke’s National Press Club address, originally scheduled for this week, had been postponed amid political considerations inside the Albanese government. The rescheduling will allow the prime minister, Anthony Albanese , to help sell any changes as Labor seeks to push back on criticism of its record by One Nation and the Coalition. The rule changes may not reduce net overseas migration (Nom) below the existing target, but could better prioritise parts of the system to tighten working holiday rules and family visa applications, or limit some appeal rights for overseas migrants. Labor’s indicative primary vote ticked up one point to 31% in July, while the Coalition’s share of the vote dropped further, down another point to 22%. Labor has kept the permanent migration target steady at 185,000 people for the 2025-26 financial year, in line with 2024-25, but the rules are getting tougher. International students wanting to undertake postgraduate study will be required to pay $5,750 for a visa, a rise of 25%, and the second in just four months. The energy minister, Chris Bowen, declined to discuss cabinet’s plans on Wednesday. “There’s always a balance to be struck, which is something our political opponents don’t often remember,” he said. “A lot of businesses rely on a very well-calibrated immigration system to provide the workers that, frankly, are difficult for the domestic market to supply.” Asylum Seeker Resource Centre deputy chief executive Jana Favero warned the government against demonising migrants to win back support from Pauline Hanson. “The planned National Press Club address should have been an opportunity to bring Australians together, not to legitimise the politics of fear and division,” she said. “Scapegoating migrants won’t build a home, lower a grocery bill or help a family pay the rent. Australia deserves better than politicians looking for someone to blame instead of delivering real solutions.” Shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, said Labor had caused “more chaos and confusion” by delaying the speech. “It is clearly only thinking about acting now because the political pressure has become impossible to ignore,” he said.
