REFORM’S policy-light political campaigning consistently hinges on one issue: immigration. This summer, amidst fighting a bin in a by-election he created to avoid an investigation into a dodgy £5-million “gift”, which then promptly restarted after returning to Parliament, Farage unveiled "Operation Fortress", a “policy” so detached from reality that it would require the Royal Navy to violate the territorial waters of a major NATO ally.

Operation Fortress may sound tough, but it would be outright unworkable in reality, a poor and inefficient use of our military assets, and burn bridges with allies (Reform still using the Trump playbook, it appears). Whilst His Majesty met with President Macron last week to celebrate the historic loan of the Bayeaux Tapestry to the British Museum – an artefact depicting the last time we were actually invaded via small boat – and this Government continues to build closer ties with our closest trade partners and allies, Reform's approach is to engage in performative politics that leaves Britain isolated. France, alongside the rest of Europe, face similar issues of illegal immigration – just look at Russian and Belarussian use of weaponised mass migration in the Baltics, Finland, and Poland.

Why would we want to work against our neighbours, when we can work with them?

Whilst Reform peddles strongman fantasies, Labour is getting on with the difficult, and infinitely less flashy business of governing.

Under Labour, small boat crossings in July reached the lowest numbers in six years. More than 80,000 people with no right to remain and over 10,000 foreign-national offenders have been deported, due to the ongoing, biggest crackdown on illegal work.

Prior to the Brexit referendum, small boat crossings in the England Channel were essentially non-existent. I also want to be absolutely straight with people who fear the worst – your life in Cornwall will not change in any meaningful way as a result of us delivering on this important promise – although undocumented migrants represent less than 1% of the UK population, and asylum hotels just 0.2% of taxpayer spending in 2024/2025, this is still too much. But in my mind, the case has always been a moral one, rather than necessarily the impact on society, at least in Cornwall.

The job isn’t finished – I believe even one small boat crossing is too many – but this progress shows that co-operation is needed, something Reform is fundamentally unable to understand. In just three months, Labour's landmark new deal with France stopped almost 200 small boats and 4,300 crossing attempts. By co-operating with, instead of spiting, the French, there’s been a 40% increase in personnel, new police units, and expanded surveillance and maritime capabilities on French beaches.

We inherited a broken asylum system, symbolised by asylum hotels. The previous Conservative Government brought over 400 asylum hotels costing us almost £10 million a day – an expensive and unsustainable approach that left communities frustrated and taxpayers with the bill.

Labour has a national and moral obligation to fix their mess, and we’re working on it.