Nigel Farage has warned that tensions over the Channel migrant crisis are about to get “significantly worse” as the country teeters on the brink of a “serious civil disturbance”.
The Reform UK leader made the comments in a video post on Monday, following clashes between hundreds of protesters and police who had blocked a road to prevent coaches carrying Channel arrivals from reaching a processing centre in Kent.
Many now fear the UK is entering a new phase of the small boats crisis, with people smugglers launching boats from further afield. Critics warn that repeated failures to stop dinghies reaching UK waters will spark riots, as anger continues to build.
Farage's warning
In his video post, Farage said: “Masked marches on the streets of Dover, and a huge, spontaneous protest on the streets of Portsmouth last night.
“You’d be right in thinking that this country is now on the edge of serious civil disturbance.
“Ever since 2020, when I first went into the Channel, up to the present day, I have warned that this would get out of control. I predicted an invasion, and boy, is it happening.
“[Previous governments] have failed us completely and utterly, and all they can do, all they can do, overnight, is to attack little old ladies in Portsmouth who came out of their houses to say we don’t want this, we’re scared.”
He added: “But let me please say this: people wearing masks, dressed up in a similar type uniform to a paramilitary, is not going to solve this problem.
“There is a marked difference between what happened in Dover and what happened last night in Portsmouth. The only way we’re going to solve this is through the ballot box.
“This is a serious situation. It’s about to get significantly worse.
“The Government needs to act. I suspect it won’t. But remember, peaceful protests good, uniforms and masks bad.”
Rescue operation details
French navy boats helped a mega-dinghy carrying 140 people reach British waters after its engine broke down. Rescue teams admitted they were blindsided as the smugglers used an “isolated, rocky spot” in the Cherbourg region.
The boat was in “serious difficulty” within “an hour”, officials said. This led to five French rescue vessels and two helicopters helping the 140 asylum seekers on the nearly 70-mile journey.
A rescue source said: “It was in the very early hours of Sunday morning, then it pushed off from the beach, with everyone on board.
“Jobourg is not patrolled by police, because nobody would expect a boat to leave from such an isolated, rocky spot.
“Within an hour of so the boat was in serious difficulty, and passengers on board made Mayday calls on their mobile phones.”
The engine had failed, investigators believe, meaning the dinghy was drifting dangerously about 14 miles off the coast. Navy chiefs dispatched the Amiral de Tourville lifeboat, the President Jules Pinteaux and Philippe Keigger fast patrol boats, the Jacques Armengaud rescue boat, and the high-seas tug Abeille Liberté (Liberty Bee). A French Navy H-160 helicopter and a Dragon 50 civil security chopper joined the operation.
The Abeille Liberté got closest to the stricken boat, and found “all on board packed closely together, and clearly in some distress”.
The source added: “We asked them who wanted to be rescued, and the answer was no one.
“There were 20 women and eight children among them, and they clearly caused the most concern.
“Only a few migrants were wearing life jackets, so we handed out jackets to all of them. It seemed incomprehensible that they were risking their lives without life jackets.
“A second outboard motor was made to work, so the boat could continue on its voyage to Britain.”
After travelling nearly 40 miles from France, it was intercepted by two lifeboat vessels and a British aircraft. The source added: “The British boats finally saw the inflatable safely to England.”
First attempt from such distance
The French authorities confirmed it was the first time that an immigrant boat had tried to reach the UK from such a distance.
A spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea said the escort operation had been essential “for safety reasons”.
He said: “The situation had to be monitored, in preparation for rescues if necessary. Those on board were determined to reach the UK.
“Given the structural fragility of these consistently overloaded vessels, the decision was made not to force migrants onto state rescue boats, so as to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck.”
