Reform UK has launched a mobile application called 'Small Boat Watch' which includes a game where players operate a Royal Navy vessel to intercept Channel migrants. The app tracks daily migrant arrivals and estimates taxpayer costs associated with border control.
The game, titled 'Small Boat Scramble,' allows users to 'take command of a Royal Navy vessel and race to stop illegal boats reaching Britain's shores.' Reform UK stated that the player with the highest score in the game within a month will receive a £5,000 prize. The party claims the app provides users with a straightforward method to understand the scale and financial implications of Channel crossings.
Critics, including Labour and the Liberal Democrats, have strongly condemned the game. A Labour spokesperson described the app as a "stunt and gimmick" aimed at distracting from "sleaze and scandal" surrounding Reform UK's finances and multiple police investigations. The party also highlighted that under a Labour government, small boat arrivals have reached their lowest level in six years.
Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson characterized the game as a "stupid mobile game" meant to distract from what he described as the failures of Brexit policies. Nathan Phillips, head of campaigns at Asylum Matters, called the gamification of migrant deaths a "sickening new low" and a sign of the dehumanization of people seeking safety.
Reform UK's home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, defended the app, stating that "British taxpayers have been told that the boats are being stopped. They aren't." He cited nearly 210,000 illegal Channel crossings since 2018 and criticized successive Conservative and Labour governments for failing to secure borders. Yusuf asserted that the "Small Boat Watch" app presents facts to the public, and the game allows people to "have a bit of fun with a very serious issue." He concluded by stating Reform UK's commitment to stopping the boats within its first 100 days in office by deploying the Royal Navy in the Channel.
The launch of the app comes amidst ongoing scrutiny of Reform UK's finances. The Metropolitan Police are investigating allegations that senior party figures discussed disguising donations from foreign sources, as reported by Channel 4 News. Nigel Farage, the party's leader, is also facing an investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog over a £5 million gift he received from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. Harborne and another crypto-billionaire, Ben Delo, have recently donated substantial sums to the party.