Here's what would finally stop the boats: a National Rally government in France – Brian Monteith

The influence of Bardella’s Friday lunchtime speech was still resonating at the close on Saturday. The reason was simple, for a patriotic Frenchman to give such impassioned support for Britain asserting its own sovereignty and taking decisions for itself struck a chord that went far beyond any rebirth of an entente cordial.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding by Nigel Farage and Bardella to end the illegal boats is, of course, only a signal of intent. They both need to become win political office. Le Pen has to become French president and appoint Bardella as her prime minister, while Farage has to win a general election.

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Badenoch’s embarrassing jaunt

Nevertheless, the memorandum is potentially a gamechanger because Bardella and his party are fully intent on restricting immigration into France at its own borders so the routes to the UK, incidental or planned, are not encouraged in the first place.

When it comes to having a message that Farage is able to work with other European politicians on the immigration issue, this could be indispensable.

It is certainly a stark contrast to Kemi Badenoch’s embarrassing jaunt to Italy for a coffee with President Georgia Meloni, only to then be rebuked within a day for making the false claim that Meloni had told Badenoch not to enter into any deal with Farage.

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The cost of Labour’s EU reset

On the same day as Bardella’s speech, the Great British Business Council had published its detailed and excoriating report on Keir Starmer’s so-called “EU reset” that new Prime Minister Andrew Burnham appears keen to reheat. Written by economist and former trade commissioner Catherine McBride, she estimates a £17.6bn cost to British taxpayers, businesses, and universities in 2027, rising quickly to £20.5bn annually by the 2030s, with an additional £12bn on top in one-off compliance costs.

In addition, the UK will commit to a permanent contribution to the EU’s Cohesion Fund which we cannot benefit from, meaning the UK will subsidise poorer parts of the EU – rather than supporting the poorest parts of the UK with our money.

In reality it’s not so much a “reset” as a covert agenda to rejoin the EU incrementally by stealth. In the areas the programme covers – including trade, agriculture, youth employment and education – future UK laws will be EU laws. Period. Placed under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the UK’s government, parliament or courts will have no ability to alter them. Even where businesses do not export to the EU, they will still be subject to EU laws.

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A reason to cut politicians’ pay

In the surreal world of EU diplomacy, the UK is expected to pay for the privilege of taking EU laws and entering EU schemes, despite already paying our legislators to pass laws tailor-made to suit us and having our own higher quality programmes that benefit our young people at less cost. In consequence, responsibilities and accountability of our politicians will be much reduced; maybe their salaries, expenses and pensions could be reduced to help pay the EU? I think we know the answer.

Take the youth employment and education proposals. Firstly, the concept of unlimited entry for EU youths is stretched up to the age of 30, then it includes family dependents, subsidised student places costing universities £2.7bn and no contribution for free access to NHS services.

UK youth unemployment is already 16 per cent and yet Britain’s million 18-to-24-year-olds not in employment, education or training will compete for jobs from nearly three million unemployed EU “youths” and for university places with 19 million EU students.

The EU’s Erasmus+ exchange scheme is pitched as a bargain but we will pay £570m in 2027, jumping to £810m annually from 2028. That’s £42,100 per UK participant – almost three times the £14,850 it cost before we left the EU! The UK’s own Turing Scheme was world-wide for more students at less cost. Yet our Chancellor pleads poverty when demands for defence spending are made.

The additional net-zero costs from the EU’s higher carbon levy will price industries out of business and workers out of jobs. It will increase the price of US ammonia imports, for fertiliser, by 34 per cent in 2027, rising to 60 per cent in 2034, ruining farmers and raising the cost of living.

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Will certificate-free borders magically increase UK farm exports? Hardly, they are designed to make EU imports easier while making non-EU foods more expensive. They can, however, mean foot-and-mouth, African swine fever, and peste des petits ruminants, as well as plant diseases, are more easily walked onto British farms. The EU has these diseases now. Britain does not.

The proposals will not put Brits into EU passports lanes because the authority is not a competency of the European Commission, but of national governments. Nor can it stop illegal immigrant crossings as these are controlled by French and Belgian governments – which is why Bardella could become more important than Starmer’s fake reboot.

When it comes to preventing the ever-bigger boats leaving the French shores destined for our southern shores, I’d trust Bardella before Burnham any time. Yes, he’s not the French prime minister yet, but with the bookies putting Le Pen at 6-4 favourite, I believe he’s more likely to deliver than Burnham ever will.

Brian Monteith is a former member of the Scottish and European parliaments and editor-at-large of thereformer.scot