Jeremy Clarkson Roasts Nigel Farage's Plan To Use The Navy To Stop Small Boats: 'It's Impossible'

Jeremy Clarkson has told Nigel Farage that his plan to use the Royal Navy to turn back small boats crossing the English Channel it is “impossible”.

The TV presenter said the Reform UK leader hasn’t properly thought through the policy, dubbed “Operation Fortress”.

Under the plan unveiled last week, the Royal Navy would intercept the boats and return the asylum seekers on board to where they came from in “the largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two”.

Farage said the plan did not break international law because they would be carrying out a “humanitarian” mission.

However, the French government has already dismissed the plan, while a former Navy officer dubbed it “a crock of shit”.

In his Sunday Times column, Clarkson joined the chorus of opposition to the Reform proposal.

He said: “Most commentators have focused on the political problems of such a plan.

“They point out, with some justification, that if the British prime minister orders a Royal Navy warship to steam into a French port and deposit a couple of hundred Somalians on the quay, the French government and indeed the United Nations might have something to say about it.

“Others have explained that we don’t really have enough ships to mount such an operation. And they also have a point because when Cyprus came under attack recently, it took a whole week to mobilise a defensive flotilla, which, to our national shame, comprised exactly one ship.

“However, there’s another, even bigger problem with Nigel’s Send ’em Packing plan which is: it’s impossible.”

The Clarkson’s Farm and Top Gear star went on: “How, in the name of all that’s holy, does double-breasted Nige think it would be possible for a large warship to come alongside a much smaller dinghy, which is something it must do if the captain wishes to attach a tow rope?”

He said in 1997, the captain of an Italian warship was jailed after it collided with an Albanian vessel, leading to the death of 81 people, including several children.

“This is what Nige hasn’t considered,” Clarkson said. “How do you stop a boat that doesn’t want to be stopped?

“And how do you order a Royal Navy captain to do something which in all probability will cause him to spend several years in the Scrubs.”

He added: “It is of course politically colourful to conjure up the image of sleek British warships defending the realm. This sort of thing appeals to the Tommy Robinsonites.

“But if you really want to stem the flow, and I suspect most people do, you have to park the (imaginary) destroyers and use your noddle. Do that and you’ll quickly work out that to stop them coming here, you’ve got to stop them wanting to come here.

“You’ve got to make the UK less appealing than where they are now, which is France. This shouldn’t be too hard.”

A Reform UK source told HuffPost UK: “I trust the senior veterans who endorsed our plan a little more than Jeremy Clarkson.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.