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Royal Marines will be ordered to dump migrants back on French beaches if Paris refuses to take them, Nigel Farage has declared.

The Reform UK leader said deploying British military assets in the Channel under Operation Fortress will “save lives” and “help the French” end the crisis.

And the party warned the Elysee Palace that it will have no choice but to accept those detected in dinghies.

Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, said: “Let me be crystal clear. A Reform government will show unflinching resolve that those who set out from France to break into Britain will go back to France.

“That is our policy, not a future negotiation with the French government. While France gets to decide how they land, knowing we would much rather disembark people in port, walk people down a gangway and hand them to French authorities.

“That is more dignified, and it is what we will negotiate.

“Those are the only two options. There is no third option where a British government under Reform just shrugs its shoulders and brings them back to Dover.”

The Royal Marines and Royal Navy sailors will be able to use lethal force “in self-defence or defence of others against an imminent threat to life”.

Mr Yusuf told the Daily Express that this could include cases where intelligence has confirmed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terrorists are crossing the Channel, or notorious members of smuggling gangs.

He said: “The ability to use lethal force will be for very specific things, for example, where our intelligence agencies have confirmed the presence and confirmed by identification, an IRGC fighter who they have intelligence is on their way to commit a mass casualty attack.”

Asked if that could include a migrant trying to destroy the dinghy to avoid detention, Mr Yusuf said: “That would be down to operational decisions by the military, but as Nigel said, this is a humanitarian mission.

“It is a rescue mission. This operation will save lives.”

Mr Farage said of his looming diplomatic clash: “For the French, there are very big upsides. Life from Dunkirk, through Calais, through Wimereux, all of those rather beautiful little villages, is now hell.

“People stay locked in their houses. You can’t resell a house. There’s crime, there’s litter, there’s vandalism, there’s gang violence, stabbings and a couple of shootings.

“Dealing with this problem would be a great, great relief to the people of France.

“Attitudes are starting to change.”

Mr Farage said the move would be justified to save lives at sea. He added: “These big mega dinghies, we saw one last week with 165 people on it, 90 to 100 is now common.

“It is astonishing we’ve not had a mass casualty event for some time.

“Picking these people up out of these boats and returning them to the nearest safe destination and to a safe country, we believe it is within international law of the sea.

“This doesn’t mean the French government themselves will welcome it, but hey, we’ve given them a billion pounds to stop the boats, and we’re just helping them.”

Reform said it would set up a joint military command with units from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, RAF and British Army, as well as surveillance.

It said the navy’s River-class offshore patrol vessels would be used for interception.

The ships’ current responsibilities include monitoring Russian naval activity around British waters.

And Bay-Class Landship ships could be used to accommodate hundreds of migrants before they are taken back to France.

Mr Yusuf said: “Our plan is simple. First, we will create an integrated surveillance command, unifying military and intelligence surveillance to make ours the most surveilled maritime border in the world.

“Second, any vessel attempting to cross illegally will be intercepted by our armed forces. We’ll return them back to France. Not a single illegal migrant trying to reach our shores will make it to Britain. To those with no right to enter Britain, our border will be impenetrable.

“Once the world realises that crossing the Channel illegally leads only to being intercepted by our Royal Marines and returned to France, the incentive structure breaks. These economic migrants will stop paying smugglers, and the boats will stop coming.”

Reform said the plan would not involve the use of so-called “pushbacks” by towing or barging their dinghies away from British waters.

The navy would intercept any unauthorised boats and detain their occupants, giving them water, food and a medical assessment before returning them to France or Belgium under escort on navy vessels, it said.

Reform added: “We believe that, as a lawful humanitarian mission, the French government will authorise passage and indeed uphold its obligations under returns and other agreements with Britain to stop small boats departing.

“We do not believe for one moment that the French navy or Gendarmerie would open fire on Royal Marines conducting a humanitarian mission and transporting civilians.

“France is one of our closest allies and a fellow member of NATO. That is not a serious hypothetical, and the likelihood of tactical confrontation is incredibly low under any scenario.”