Farage, Bardella Forge Cross-Channel Sovereignty Pact to End Small Boat Crossings
Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella have agreed on a sovereignty alliance to halt Channel crossings within three months, setting the stage for a political earthquake in Britain's May 7 local elections.
Nigel Farage has hammered out terms of an informal cross-channel deal with French National Rally leader Jordan Bardella that would stop small boat crossings within three months of a Reform UK general election victory. The sovereignty alliance requires Britain to exit the European Convention on Human Rights and authorizes Royal Marines to tow migrant vessels back to France.
The agreement carries real stakes for families on both sides of the Channel. Communities that have endured years of uncertainty and rising costs from uncontrolled migration now face a concrete test of whether sovereignty-focused parties can deliver.
That test arrives on May 7. Reform UK could top polls in multiple London boroughs for the first time, win 11 of 13 West Midlands councils, and nearly match Plaid Cymru in Wales. YouGov polling places Reform at 26 percent national voting intention, ahead of Labour at 18 percent.
Farage and Bardella first met in person Dec. 9, 2025, at 5 Hertford Street in London. Farage's partner Laure Ferrari served as translator during the tense discussion. Farage confronted Bardella about the £800 million Britain had already paid France, plus a new £662 million commitment.
"I'm really sorry," Farage told him. "Unless you stop this, I'm going to get the Royal Marines to tow boats back to France."
Bardella accepted within an hour. "I accept that. I get that."
More than 65,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since Labour took power in July 2024, averaging 118 per day. That compares to 57 per day under Boris Johnson.
The new £662 million UK-France deal, signed April 23, funds approximately 1,100 French officers, drones, helicopters, and a removal centre in Dunkirk. Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf called the deal "an abhorrent misuse of taxpayers' hard-earned money."
Bardella has pledged that if elected French president, France would allow UK Border Force to carry out pushbacks, returning migrant boats to French shores. Paris previously rejected such a policy on safety grounds.
"I can't defend the notion of pushbacks and then refuse to allow Great Britain to do the same," Bardella told the Daily Telegraph. "My ambition is to make France the least attractive country for mass immigration in Europe."
Bardella holds influence beyond national politics. As president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, he leads the third-largest bloc with 84 MEPs. He has expressed a vision of uniting Europe's sovereignty-focused parties across different parliamentary blocs.
"We came to conclusion that we must prepare our political movements to exercise power and that it is possible we will do so at the same time," he told Breitbart News.
Reform UK faces a historic opportunity in the May 7 elections. Polling projections show Reform gaining 1,300-plus council seats from a base of just three. Labour faces potential loss of 50 to 74 percent of seats.
In Wales, Reform and Plaid Cymru are neck-and-neck at 37 and 36 seats. Labour is projected to fall to 13 percent vote share, ending a century of dominance. Labour's disapproval sits at 68 percent nationwide.
Bardella told the Daily Telegraph last December: "I think that Farage will be the next prime minister. He was a pioneer."
Farage has framed stopping small boats as vital for women's safety, national security, and billions saved annually. But he places higher stakes on the political relationship with voters.
"But number four is even bigger than the first three — re-establishing trust between voters and Government," he told GB News.
"If Reform were to win the next general election, that is the thing we would have to solve in three months," Farage said.
The sovereignty movement building across Europe represents a genuine democratic response to voters demanding border control and national self-determination. The May 7 elections will test whether this movement can win at the local level.