Earlier this week, Reform UK launched a beefed-up version of its Channel migrants policy: “Operation Fortress”, which is based around highly enhanced surveillance capabilities identifying illegal crossings and backed up by the Royal Navy. Under the plan, sea forces will be responsible for intercepting small boats and ultimately escorting them to France.

The announcement is a slightly more detailed version of the party’s existing policies. However, given the range of practical issues and legal objections that have been levied at any solution involving the navy, this announcement suggests Reform is ready for challenges. Operation Fortress is likely to prove popular with Reform’s existing base, while attracting the ire of those demanding a granular level of technical detail.

Zia Yusuf and Nigel Farage have referred to emergency legislation being passed “as necessary” to allow the policy to move forward. Most critically, this will require amending the 1971 Immigration Act to transfer the authority of direct shipping for migration control purposes from the UK Border Force to the military. The range of obstacles preventing the Home Office from doing the job will also need to go, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Equality Act 2010 — which Reform has already committed to repealing — as well as various sections of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.

But the policy’s main obstacle will be the attitude of the French authorities towards British military operations returning illegal migrants to their shores. In Monday’s press conference, Yusuf said that there were two options for addressing this: either British personnel would bring migrants to French ports where they would be handed over to officials, or Royal Marines could simply land them on the beaches from which they departed and let them go. It is unthinkable, he argued, that the French authorities would simply push these people back into the sea. However, ill-tempered or hostile interactions between French and British navies at sea are plausible.

Interestingly, Yusuf referred only to Emmanuel Macron as the putative French leader making the decisions from Paris at the time of implementation. However, it seems unlikely that he will still be president by the time Reform has a chance to implement this policy. Instead, if the current polling is accurate, it’s more probable that Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement National (RN) will be in charge.

Currently, the view in France is that the UK is responsible for the range of “pull factors” which incentivise illegal migrants to cross the Channel, such as the comparative ease with which they can find illegal work. With successive British governments proving unwilling to address these factors, the French have paid lip service to the idea of stopping illegal crossings, but have no desire to allow a build-up of migrants in their territory waiting to get to the UK.

Under the current circumstances, it is completely implausible that France would allow British personnel to hand back migrants. However, if prospective Reform and RN governments reach a joint commitment to breaking illegal immigration, there is the possibility of a win-win situation. The RN will have the biggest battle on its hands, as it will have to do all this from within the EU, and by extension the ECHR.

For those minded to pay attention to the details, this announcement is clearly going to be unsatisfactory. However, the Channel migration crisis is fundamentally a question of incentives, and Operation Fortress attempts to address that dynamic against illegal immigration. There is the possibility that Reform’s policies get snarled up in judicial review, or blocked by navy officers unsure of what the long-term consequences of their actions will be. That is why clarity is needed from Farage and Yusuf on how they will challenge lawfare. Otherwise, Reform risks introducing a policy without adequate preparation — and setting itself up for failure.

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Chris Bayliss is an independent consultant who works on energy infrastructure in the Middle East.

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