Bardella faces French backlash over migrant pact with Farage

🔍 WHY THIS STORY MATTERS
The dispute tests whether Reform UK and the Rassemblement National can turn shared anti-migration politics into workable cross-border policy when British and French national interests point in different directions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS...

● Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella signed a conditional migration memorandum in Birmingham on 4 September.

● The English text says France would “ordinarily accept” people intercepted by Britain after leaving the French coast.

● Reform UK says Bardella and his team approved the agreement, while French opponents say it conflicts with established RN policy.

R eform UK says Jordan Bardella, president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN), approved a migration pact with Nigel Farage that could see people intercepted in the Channel returned to France, despite a backlash over whether it conflicts with the party policy.

Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella signed a memorandum of understanding at Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham on 4 September. It sets out how the two parties say they would tackle Channel crossings if they entered government in Britain and France.

The memorandum says Britain would intercept boats that had left the French coast and entered UK territorial waters. Both versions envisage France returning those on board to their countries of origin, but the English text includes an additional phrase saying France would “ordinarily accept these persons”.

That difference has become the centre of a political dispute in France. Marine Le Pen has previously opposed France taking back people who reached Britain by small boat. Critics from several French parties have accused Bardella of agreeing to terms that could lead France to accept people returned by Britain.