Zia Yusuf speaks to the Daily Express in Dover. (Image: Tim Merry)
Small boat migrants will eventually succeed in carrying out a terror attack, Zia Yusuf has warned. The Channel crisis is a “total and catastrophic political failure” that has become a “national security emergency”, the Reform home affairs spokesman said.
This, he said, was evidenced by a foiled plot to target the Israeli Embassy. At least one of the alleged plotters arrived by small boat, it has been claimed.
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Mr Yusuf vowed to stop crossings by dramatically increasing surveillance in the Channel, ordering Royal Marines to tow dinghies back to France and to deport every illegal migrant in the UK if his party were to win the next election. Reform would legally back elite troops and the Border Force in intercepting dinghies, this newspaper was told.
Asked if he thought the small boats crisis had changed the security picture in the UK, Mr Yusuf said: “I do.
“And the evidence for that is there was an attempted terrorist attack where the perpetrators, the people who tried to commit that atrocity that was successfully averted by the security services, did come here on small boats.
“Let’s just look at the countries from which these people are coming. Who are the countries at the top of the league table? Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan.
“These are not countries, let’s put it mildly, with the best track record in terms of being friendly to Britain. Do we think they have our interests at heart?
“Over the last eight years, the number of people who have come here illegally from those countries, fighting-aged men, has outnumbered the British Army.
“So, I think it is a national security emergency in many ways.”
Asked if he feared a successful terror attack could be carried out by small boat arrivals, Mr Yusuf said: “It seems like that’s a tragically, and devastatingly, likely thing to potentially happen.
“Our security services do an incredible job under extremely difficult circumstances.
“I believe they’re vastly under-resourced. I don’t think it helps them at all that we’ve had pathetically cowardly political leaders who are just allowing people, as I said, to turn up on our beaches.”
If Reform wins the next election, a new ‘UK Deportation Command’ will use data from banks, the Home Office, HMRC, police, DVLA and NHS to identify every illegal migrant.
They will then be offered £2,500 each to leave the UK during a six-month grace period.
Once the voluntary returns programme comes to an end, immigration enforcement teams will be ordered to carry out raids and detain them.
New laws introduced in a planned Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill will bar illegal migrants from claiming asylum, and the Home Secretary will have a legal duty to remove them.
Reform will also leave the European Convention on Human Rights, and disapply other pieces of human rights laws, such as the Refugee Convention, to allow five deportation flights every day.
Mr Yusuf vowed “no judge in the country” will be able to prevent removal flights from leaving.
And he told the Daily Express the small boats crisis represents “total and catastrophic political failure”.
He added: “We will stop the invasion, we’ll stop the boats.
“We’re always going to deport everyone who’s in the country illegally, because it’s completely unfair on people watching this and listening to this, who wake up early, go to work, pay their taxes, play by the rules, teach their children the difference between right and wrong, that people can just break in and not only get to stay under the Labour and Tory governments, but also get free accommodation and in some cases, four star hotels, free meals, free healthcare, free taxis, free leisure activities, free golf days, free trips to the cinema.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, speaking to the Daily Express during a press conference, said the Royal Marines could be ordered to tow migrant boats back to France.
He said: “Under the international law of the sea, what you do with people in distress is take them back to the nearest, safest port.
“And frankly, if you are literally on the boundary line between here and Calais, we would have absolutely every right to take boats back to Calais, that being the nearest and safest place. So, there’s no difficulty with any of this.”
An inquiry into the deaths of 27 migrants in November 2021 revealed how the French Government became increasingly irate over plans to intercept and turn back migrant dinghies.
Zia Yusuf spoke to the Daily Express about his plans for a Reform Government. (Image: Tim Merry)
Zia Yusuf warned of a national security crisis. (Image: PA)
They claimed it would be illegal because it puts lives at risk. They sensationally stopped talking to senior British officials about the Channel crisis because of the diplomatic spat over pushbacks, the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal and Brexit.
But Reform’s plan to leave the ECHR will give Border Force and the Royal Navy the protections they would need, Mr Yusuf said.
Mr Yusuf added: “We are going to leave the ECHR, we are going to derogate from a whole host of international treaties.
“We are going to appeal the Quality Act and replace it, we are going to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with something that is fit for purpose.
“All of these things, if you actually speak to people in operational duty, in our navy, in the army, in the police.
“They will tell you that these are things that loom over them, and these are just ordinary men and women, great people who are trying to do their jobs.
“We are going to have their backs. We are going to sort the legislation out inside our first year.”
Speaking at a press conference in Dover, Mr Yusuf listed what he said were examples of judges blocking the deportation of illegal migrants who had committed crimes.
“How many more people must die at the hands of those who should never have been in our country in the first place?” he said.
“How many more victims’ families must be devastated in this way when their rights are placed beneath those of criminals?
“The answer is none, Vote Reform. We will leave the ECHR and end this madness.”
Small Boat Migrant Terror Warning Issued as Starmer Slammed Over “Catastrophic Failure”
Britain’s latest small-boat arrivals have reignited a fierce political argument over border security, after two migrant boats reached the Kent coast without being intercepted by British authorities within the space of two days.
The incidents have prompted an urgent review by Border Security Command and renewed criticism from Conservative and Reform politicians. Critics have described the failures as evidence that the Government is losing control of the Channel, while ministers have acknowledged that the incidents were unacceptable but stressed that the wider number of crossings has fallen substantially this year.
The developments have also revived questions about national security, including whether organised criminal networks could exploit irregular migration routes. However, concerns about potential security risks should be distinguished from evidence that people arriving by small boat are terrorists. No such general conclusion can be drawn from the latest incidents.
Two boats reach the Kent coast
The immediate controversy began on Monday, September 21, when a small dinghy carrying five people reached Folkestone without being intercepted. The incident was described by the Home Office as isolated and rare.
The following day, another boat reached the beach at Samphire Hoe near Dover. Twenty-one people were detained after the arrival, prompting Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to order an urgent review of the Border Security Command’s response. Mahmood said that even one uncontrolled landing was “one too many.”
The incidents were particularly notable because uncontrolled landings had become relatively uncommon. Sky News reported that the Folkestone incident was the first such arrival recorded for more than a year, while the second followed only one day later.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell subsequently said that authorities “can’t stop everything all of the time”, while also acknowledging that the incidents were concerning and that the Home Secretary’s review was necessary.
“Catastrophic failure” criticism
The Government’s opponents have used the incidents to attack its approach to illegal migration.
Conservative politicians have argued that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash the gangs” has not produced the level of border control they expected. Earlier in 2026, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the Channel situation as a “catastrophic failure” and argued that Labour had made a mistake by cancelling the previous government’s Rwanda deportation policy.
Those comments are political judgments rather than independent assessments of the Government’s performance.
The available data provide a more complicated picture. The House of Commons Library reported in September that approximately 33,000 people had arrived in the UK by small boat in the year ending June 2026. Small boats accounted for about 88% of all detected unauthorised arrivals during that period. At the same time, crossings had declined from their previous peak in 2022.
The Government has also reported substantial numbers of attempted crossings being prevented in cooperation with French authorities.
The Government’s response
The Home Office has pointed to its cooperation with France as evidence that its strategy is having an effect.
According to Government figures published in August, French authorities prevented 185 small-boat crossing events between April 27 and August 2 under the new UK-France arrangements. The Home Office said this represented 61% of crossing events during that period and was an improvement on the equivalent period in 2025.
The Government has also established Border Security Command, bringing together agencies including Border Force, the National Crime Agency, police and intelligence organisations.
The purpose is not simply to intercept boats at sea but also to target the organised criminal networks that arrange journeys, supply vessels and engines and collect money from migrants.
The Home Office says more than 48,000 attempted crossings have been prevented through joint UK-French activity and that more than 1,100 boats and engines have been seized by the National Crime Agency and international partners. These are Government figures and should be understood in that context.
Where does the terror warning come from?
The security dimension has become an important part of the political debate.
Small-boat crossings involve people entering Britain through an irregular route, often without conventional pre-arrival identity checks. That creates an obvious challenge for immigration enforcement and security agencies because authorities must establish the identity and background of people after arrival.
However, that challenge should not be confused with evidence that migrants arriving through the Channel are generally terrorists or represent a terrorist threat.
The available official information does not establish such a general connection.
The security concern is better understood as an issue of screening, identity verification and the possibility that organised criminal groups could exploit weaknesses in border controls.
That distinction is particularly important because almost all people arriving by small boat go on to claim asylum, according to the House of Commons Library. The nationalities involved have also changed over time, with Afghans, Sudanese, Eritreans and Iranians among groups recorded in significant numbers.
The criminal gangs behind the crossings
There is, however, strong official evidence that organised criminal groups play a central role in facilitating dangerous Channel journeys.
The Government has repeatedly described the boats as overcrowded and unsuitable for the crossing. Its September guidance says the vessels can be unstable and vulnerable to failure, creating risks not only for passengers but also for rescue personnel.
The Crown Prosecution Service has also highlighted the dangers faced by people travelling in these vessels.
Since January 2026, a specific offence has applied to conduct that endangers another person’s life or risks serious harm during a journey by sea to Britain. The CPS says ten people had been sentenced under the new law by July after being prosecuted for their role in dangerous crossings.
The case of a South Sudanese man sentenced in September provides another example. Nineteen-year-old Chan Mathok Atak received a two-year-and-three-month prison sentence after admitting that he piloted an overcrowded dinghy carrying 165 people across the Channel. Prosecutors said the boat had a faulty engine, lacked navigation equipment and was taking on water.
The case illustrates why the Government has increasingly focused on the people operating or facilitating crossings rather than treating migrants themselves as a single category.
Why the latest incidents matter politically
Despite the decline in overall crossings, the two uncontrolled landings have created a politically damaging sequence for the Government.
For opponents, the central issue is straightforward: if boats can reach British beaches without being detected, then the border system still contains significant gaps.
For ministers, the response is that no border can guarantee interception of every vessel and that the broader strategy must be judged across multiple measures, including prevention in France, arrests of smugglers, returns and the overall number of arrivals.
Both arguments depend partly on which measure of border performance is being considered.
A reduction in total arrivals does not eliminate the significance of an uncontrolled landing. Conversely, two successful landings do not by themselves establish that the Government’s entire border policy has failed.
That distinction is particularly relevant when dramatic language such as “catastrophic failure” is used.
Reform’s alternative
Reform UK has used the latest developments to reinforce its argument for a substantially different approach.
Nigel Farage has proposed deploying the Royal Navy in the Channel and returning people intercepted at sea to France. Reform has called this approach “Operation Fortress”.
Zia Yusuf has also repeatedly argued that a Reform government would make stopping small boats one of its earliest priorities.
The party’s proposals go further than the Government’s existing strategy. Reform has advocated large-scale deportations, tougher immigration enforcement and changes to the UK’s approach to international human-rights obligations.
The Government, by contrast, has focused on cooperation with France, disrupting smuggling networks, processing asylum claims and increasing returns.
The disagreement is therefore not simply about the number of people arriving. It concerns fundamentally different approaches to deterrence, interception, asylum processing and deportation.
A continuing security and humanitarian challenge
The Channel remains one of Europe’s busiest shipping routes, making small-boat journeys inherently dangerous.
The Government’s own guidance says the vessels used by smugglers are frequently unsuitable for the crossing. The CPS has similarly warned that pilots can put passengers at serious risk of death or injury.
That creates two parallel responsibilities for authorities: preventing dangerous crossings where possible and ensuring that people in distress at sea can be rescued.
The political debate is increasingly focused on whether those responsibilities can be reconciled with a stronger system of immigration enforcement.
For Starmer’s Government, the latest incidents have led to an urgent operational review. For its opponents, they provide another opportunity to question whether existing policies are sufficient.
What the evidence does establish is that irregular Channel crossings remain a major border-management challenge despite the decline recorded in 2026. What it does not establish is that migrants arriving by small boat are collectively a terrorist threat.
The distinction will remain important as Britain debates how far it should go in strengthening border controls while maintaining its obligations towards people seeking asylum and those rescued from dangerous journeys.
For now, the immediate task facing Border Security Command is to establish how two boats reached the Kent coast undetected and whether the circumstances reveal a wider operational weakness. The Government’s response to that review will help determine whether the latest incidents were isolated breaches or signs of a problem requiring broader changes to Britain’s Channel strategy.