A statement issued by the Home Office said that Border Force staff are being authorised to employ “turn-around” tactics at sea. The proposed policy is the latest in a series of measures cracking down on crossings and would mean that boats carrying migrants across the English Channel could be turned back towards France rather than recovered by British authorities.

       GB NEWS presenter Nigel Farage expressed his doubts on the plan being brought into motion, implying the solution was a last-chance saloon for Home Secretary Priti Patel.

       In a tweet to his 1.6M followers, the former leader of UKIP shared the front page of the Daily Express.

       Mr Farage issued a brutal warning to the Home Secretary in response to the plans - expressing his doubt that the crackdown measures won’t come into effect.

       He stated: “This is @PritiPatel’s last throw of the dice. I doubt it will happen.

       “If I am right, she will have to go.”

       Government sources confirmed to the BBC that a Border Force team has been training for months to begin the operation.

       These Border Force officials have authorisation from the Government to use the new “turn-around” tactics, but only in “very limited circumstances”.

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       Border Force personnel are undergoing training before implementing the tactics which can be used against larger and more sturdy migrant boats.

       However, the plans have already been criticised by the French government, with them raising concerns over the dangerous implications of the method.

       The French interior minister said: "Safeguarding human lives at sea takes priority."

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       The plan has also faced scrutiny from Tim Loughton, a Conservative MP and member of the home affairs select committee.

       He said: “It sounds good. But I’m afraid in practice it’s just not going to happen. These are flimsy boats coming over. Even those that are tougher are completely weighed down.

       “Any boat coming up alongside at speed would capsize most of these boats anyway and then we’re looking at people getting into trouble in the water and drowning … and then we’ll get blamed for that. It sounds good pushing them back but it’s not going to work in practice.”

       France has warned that the move flouts international maritime law - which states that people at risk of losing their lives at sea must be rescued.

       If the measures were to come into force, the proposals would require this law to be rewritten.

       The crackdown from the Government comes following increasing numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel in recent months.

       Nearly 1,000 migrants tried to cross the Channel to reach UK shores on Monday, September 6, smashing the record set just over a fortnight ago.

       The previous record noted that 828 individuals arrived on UK shores on August 21.

       Among those arriving on the packed lifeboat at a beach in Kent were a baby and several young children.