Nigel Farage and French National Rally leader Jordan Bardella have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging joint action to stop Channel small boat crossings, in a move Farage says could halt arrivals within 100 days. The pact, unveiled on stage at Reform UK's party conference in Birmingham, marks a significant show of cross-Channel political cooperation between two right-wing populist parties, coming as Farage seeks to shift attention away from a donations scandal that has forced two senior aides to step aside.

Under the agreement, migrants who enter British waters after launching from French shores would be returned to France, with Bardella pledging that his party would "do everything" to stop France being a "gateway for illegal migration into the UK" if it wins French elections next year. Farage described the deal as forging a new "entente cordiale" and called it a "momentous agreement", while also using his conference speech to promise a "national emergency" and a rush of new legislation within days of taking office should Reform win power.