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Nigel Farage has long been a staunch advocate for strong borders and curbing migration.
Nonetheless, it was the Reform UK leader’s turn to face border controls when he was refused entry to the Chagos Islands this weekend after travelling nearly 6,000 miles to the restricted military base.
In a video shared on social media, Mr Farage said he was on a mission to bring aid to support 4 Chagossians aiming to colonise a deserted island.
Mr Farage, 51, had attempted to reach by boat at Ile du Coin from the Maldives, 300 miles away, on Saturday.
The Reform leader insisted he had been told by a ‘senior figure’ that he had been blocked by the UK government from delivering the food and medicine.
He said: ‘The British government has made every effort to forestall me heading towards the Chagos Islands. They’ve asked the Maldives government to stop me from leaving here and setting foot on the boat.
‘This was information conveyed to me by a senior figure within the Maldives government. I cannot imagine such an attempt has been made to stop a British citizen from reaching British territory.’
Nonetheless, in keeping with Foreign Office advice, anyone wishing to travel to the archipelago, home to a joint UK-US military base, requires a permit, with no business flights operating to or from the territory.
Ben Wallace, the previous defence secretary, accused Mr Farage of attempting ‘MAGA stunts’.
He wrote on X: ‘No Mr Farage you cant just turn up at sensitive military bases either within the UK or abroad.
‘No MP can – irrespective of what Party you represent. We don’t do open days across the trident warhead or open house for the SAS either.’
Sir Ben further hit out at Mr Farage for failing to recruit a defence spokesperson after the Reform leader unveiled a ‘shadow cabinet’ of comprised of senior party figures, including Richard Tice and Conservative defector Robert Jenrick.
It comes days after Donald Trump again turned on the federal government’s deal handy over what’s formally often called the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to Mauritius.
The US president had previously suggested the deal was the ‘best’ Sir Keir Starmer could have negotiated.
Nonetheless Trump modified his mind this again this week, urging the federal government to not ‘give away Diego Garcia’.
Reports suggested that the president was swayed by the UK’s refusal to permit US forces to make use of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire as a base for a possible military campaign against Iran.
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