Reform UK Would Deploy Navy to Stop Small Boats in English Channel

Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf has outlined the party's radical plan to deploy the Royal Navy in the English Channel to prevent migrants from crossing in small boats — what he described as the largest military operation in the Channel since World War Two.

The policy announcement reflects Reform UK's hardline stance on immigration, which has been a central issue for the party since its rise in British politics. The proposal would see naval vessels actively turn back or intercept small boats carrying asylum seekers.

Critics have raised legal and humanitarian concerns about the proposal, questioning its feasibility under international maritime law and the obligations of the UK as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.