Farage and Bardella sign pact to stop small boats

Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella, protégé of Marine Le Pen, have signed an agreement aimed at stopping small boat crossings in the Channel, according to the BBC, Independent and Express. Bardella is widely described as a future French Prime Minister if the National Rally wins power.

The pact was announced at the Reform party conference, where Farage also paid tribute to Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative MP and Reform figure who has died. The Express reports that the deal involves cooperation between a future Reform government and a National Rally administration in France - a commitment that requires both parties to win office before it can be tested.

The question is who controls the machinery. Small boat policy is not only about political will - it requires operational cooperation from the French coastguard, the French interior ministry, and French local authorities. A pact between party leaders is one thing; a binding agreement between governments with enforcement powers is another. Every previous British government has tried to secure French cooperation on the crossings, and every one has found that the French response depends on French domestic politics and French resource allocation, not on Westminster's preferences.

The test will be whether Reform can name a date by which the crossings stop, and whether that date survives a general election. Promises are easy; enforcement requires leverage. The Channel is not a border Britain controls alone.