On Friday, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally party signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, aimed at stopping the boats “forever” — should their parties come to power — at the party’s annual conference in Birmingham.
Farage and Bardella signed the agreement which vows to end irregular migrant crossing on stage. The Reform UK leader hailed the deal as a “genuine new entente cordiale” between the two countries and political parties.
Bardella — who is hoping to become France’s next Prime Minister — said that “the United Kingdom must not be the destination for illegal immigrants entering France. They must be sent back to their countries of origin.”
Delivering his speech in English, something he rarely does, he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “failing” to protect France. Switching to French for the press conference that followed his speech, Bardella argued that “if France managed its borders better, no one would leave Calais.”
Bardella and Farage’s meeting followed the French President’s trip to London on Thursday, where he met with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to discuss how to “scale up” efforts to tackle illegal crossings and strengthen the UK’s relationship with Europe.
Britain’s Labour government said this week that the UK had recorded the lowest number of boats carrying migrants and asylum seekers across the Channel from France to England this summer since 2019.
Tense past relations with the National Rally party
Farage and Bardella last met in December last year at a private members’ club in London. But despite their shared eurosceptic views, Farage has not always had a smooth relationship with the National Rally Party — or with Le Pen.
In 2014, Le Pen accused Farage of “aggression” against her party, after he refused to form an alliance with the National Rally party (which at the time was known as the National Front) in the European Parliament due to what he described as the party’s “anti-Semitism and general prejudice.”
When questioned about his past ties to the National Rally party by the press, Farage conceded on Friday that he had been “nervous” about the National Front, founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, when he began his career as a member of the European Parliament in 1999.
“When Marine took over, I observed the situation; I didn’t get involved right away. What she has accomplished, namely ridding the party of those extremist elements and bringing it into the mainstream is a considerable achievement”, said Farage.
Reform UK led national polls in the UK for over a year until July, but the party’s standing has slumped in recent weeks amid multiple scandals involving allegations of irregular political funding.
On Friday, hours before Reform’s conference was set to begin, Farage’s Reform UK was reported to the Metropolitan Police and the Electoral Commission over alleged illegal donations.
This followed an undercover investigation aired by British broadcaster Channel 4 News, in which an investigative group called Verbatim posed as a wealthy American financier and his UK-based son. Under UK law, donations from foreign investors are illegal.