Jordan Bardella told the Reform UK conference that France must regain control of its borders and immigration policy to stop migrants reaching the Channel and Calais area. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express, the National Rally president tied that demand to Marine Le Pen and a possible path to power in the 2027 Presidential race.
He said the aim was to stop people moving north into Pas-de-Calais and toward the British coast, where he said the costs of managing the crisis are being carried on the ground. Bardella also said that if France protects its borders, the Royal Navy will not need to be deployed in the Channel.
Reform UK conference remarks
Bardella said, "What I am saying is that if France protects its borders, the Royal Navy won't need to be deployed in the Channel, because there will no longer be incoming illegal migrants in the Pas-de-Calais region." He added, "If we want to solve the crisis—and potentially the costs associated with managing the crisis on the ground in Pas-de-Calais for the British - France must regain control of its immigration policy."
He also linked the issue to the Schengen Zone, saying Britain’s border effectively starts at the French frontier with Italy. In his account, the border problem is not only at Calais but along the wider route that migrants use before reaching the Channel.
Marine Le Pen and National Rally
Bardella said, "If we come to power with Marine Le Pen, we will hold a referendum on immigration with constitutional status." He said that vote would reaffirm the primacy of French law over all European and international jurisprudence on immigration and that National Rally would put in place a legal, political, administrative, and deterrent shield to prevent migrants moving toward Pas-de-Calais and the British coast.
That is the concrete policy shift he wants readers to watch: a referendum first, then a constitutional change to give French law priority over European and international rules in immigration disputes. For Britain, that would shift pressure back across the Channel if Marine Le Pen and National Rally won the 2027 Presidential race.
Le Touquet Accord in 2003
Bardella also blamed Emmanuel Macron and the European Union’s open borders scheme for the Channel chaos, but he conceded that the French carry a portion of blame. On the Le Touquet Accord, which he said began in 2003, he argued that Britain has been paying for part of the French measures used to control migration, while saying those resources are "completely derisory."
He said, "It's very simple: the French no longer want to pay for immigration they do not want." On the same question, he added, "It is true that for some time now, following the Le Touquet Accord since 2003, the British have been paying for part of the French measures put in place to try to control it, but these resources are completely derisory."
Channel crossings and next steps
The practical line from Bardella is straightforward: if France tightens its own immigration rules, he says the Channel route should ease and the Royal Navy should not have to take the load. The unresolved point is political, not operational: Marine Le Pen and National Rally would still need to win the 2027 Presidential race before any referendum or constitutional change could happen.
For people in Pas-de-Calais and on the British coast, that means the debate now turns on whether French border control stays with Emmanuel Macron and the European Union or shifts toward the policy Bardella described at the Reform UK conference.
