Farage vows Royal Marines beach returns as France fumes and Lowe offers pact

Nigel Farage has vowed to order the Royal Marines to return Channel migrants to French beaches if he becomes Prime Minister, in a plan GB News reports has drawn fury from French officials. The Mirror says the proposal "won't work", though it does not specify on what grounds.

Farage separately confirmed talks with senior French figures on the small boat crisis, telling GB News that "attitudes are beginning to change" across the Channel. He also described France's record on the issue as a "billion-pound failure" - a figure that appears to reference the sum Britain has paid France for border enforcement since the current arrangement began.

Meanwhile, Farage told the Daily Express he is "open-minded" on talks with Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe about a pact to "unite the Right", and confirmed he "reached out" to Lowe after the latter's coalition offer. The Daily Express carries Lowe's three-word response, though it is not reported what those words were.

The beach-return proposal is legally interesting. Under international maritime law, a vessel in distress must be brought to a place of safety - and the nearest safe harbour is usually the correct one. France argues the boats become Britain's responsibility once they leave French waters; Britain argues they are France's responsibility because they departed from France. A policy of forcible return would test which reading the courts accept. The Royal Marines have not been used for immigration enforcement in modern times, and the Navy currently brings boats to British shores under search-and-rescue obligations.

What to watch: whether Farage and Lowe announce formal talks, and whether the beach-return proposal acquires any legal opinion on whether it is permissible under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The difference between a policy and a slogan is whether someone has checked if it is allowed.