𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The British and French Governments are “colluding and allowing” Channel migrant crossings, Nigel Farage has warned. An undercover reporter was able to cross in a small boat while posing as a criminal on the run. Christian Drogan filmed, for TalkTV, his efforts to hide from the French authorities, his interactions with the criminal gangs, attempts to board a dinghy and his perilous crossing.

And Mr Drogan captured the moment the French Navy took four smugglers back to the shore after they asked to get off the dinghy. And Mr Farage declared the only people able to survive smugglers’ current tactics are “young, fit males”. He warned groups of migrants could “turn into a force, perhaps even an army within this country that is against us”.

The Reform UK leader said: “He is the first person to directly film that, and well done him.

“I was the first person to film what were called the escorts. It was easy to see. Literally 200 yards off the beach at Dunkirk or Wimereux, or wherever it was, the French navy then escort it all the way.

“In some cases, if they haven’t got lifejackets, the French Navy give them lifejackets.

“Once the escort has taken them all the way to our 12-mile line, the lifejackets are being collected up by Border Force and given back to the French so they can be used again.

“This is two Governments who basically, despite everything they tell you, are effectively colluding and allowing a criminal trafficking enterprise.”

After setting off on relatively calm seas, footage shows a Gendarmerie patrol boat approaching the dinghy.

Officers are then heard saying in English: “The sea is very rough, here it is quiet, when you go further it’s very dangerous.

“The best way today is to go back.”

Drogan said the French police offered to take anyone back to shore if they had changed their mind about crossing.

He claims the four smugglers were the only people to accept the offer – and were dropped back on the beach to continue the work of their criminal network organising the journeys.

And a furious Mr Farage raged: “We’ve given them well over a billion pounds and it’s not working. I’ve always said – detain and deport.

“Really, the only people who make it on the boats are young fit males.

“These are aggressive, dangerous young males. There are some who say, could turn into a force within this country, perhaps even an army within this country that is against us.”

Reform has vowed to use the Royal Navy to stop Channel migrant crossings – and take asylum seekers back ti France.

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

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.

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

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 Farage told TalkTV: “It’s actually in France’s interest to sort this out. Can you imagine if you lived in one of those villages near Calais on the coast. This is now going as far west as Dieppe.

“If we stop this, there will be a huge number of residents in Northern France very, very grateful that their lives are made better.

“All this bluster I’ve had from the other political leaders, and much of the media, that what I’m saying is unworkable, I actually think in the end, we would get the French to work with us on it.”

And the Reform UK leader said Britain is in the middle of an asylum crisis.

He said: “Frankly, it makes no difference whether we grant them asylum or not. They don’t leave anyway. They just disappear.

“And they are straight into drugs gangs or whatever it is. Two years ago, we gave asylum to quite a lot of Albanians. Well hang on, it’s a holiday destination. A potential NATO country.

“And yet Germany? Zero. France? Zero. We’re the soft touch. We’re dishing out asylum, we’re ultimately dishing out British passports willy nilly, because we fear that we won’t send them anywhere anyway.

“The whole thing is a complete joke.”