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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Kevin Rawlinson

Former navy officer criticises Reform plan to use military to stop small boats

A crowded inflatable dinghy with people wearing orange life jackets floats on calm water in the Channel
Border Force officials arrive to collect occupants of an inflatable craft carrying migrant men, women and children off the coast of Dover. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A Reform UK proposal to use the military to stop small boats bringing migrants to the UK from France lacks substance, a former Royal Navy officer has said, suggesting the UK’s warships would be better used countering actual military threats.

Reform’s political opponents have claimed its plans have more to do with distracting from the financial scandals surrounding its leader, Nigel Farage, than about solving the small boats issue, after the party proposed having the navy pick up people trying to make irregular Channel crossings and take them to France.

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