Reform UK says migrant deal was ratified by far-right National Rally president

Agreement between Nigel Farage and Jordan Bardella to return migrants to France faces backlash, with critics saying it goes against France’s ‘interests and sovereignty’

Reform UK has insisted its deal with France’s far-right National Rally to return migrants back across the channel was fully approved by the party and signed off by its president, Jordan Bardella, amid a furious backlash in France.

The agreement unveiled on Friday between Nigel Farage and Bardella, who is the 30-year-old protege of presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, appeared to directly contradict Le Pen’s long-held policy of refusing to accept the return of those who arrive in the UK in small boats from France.