They crossed the Channel not as migrants, but as self-proclaimed patriots armed with knives, cameras, and a burning sense of betrayal.

In a series of jaw-dropping videos that have racked up millions of views in days, members of the far-right activist group Raise the Colours – the same crew who blanketed Britain in St George’s flags this summer – are now filming themselves sneaking onto northern French beaches at night, locating stashed inflatable dinghies, and slashing them to ribbons.

“When a government won’t act, the people will,” one masked man declares to the camera in a clip posted November 13, 2025, before plunging a blade into a black rubber hull. “Operation Stop The Boats – whether the migrants or the government like it or not.”

The videos, uploaded to YouTube and X under the handle @RTCORGUK, show the men stomping on outboard engines, slicing fuel lines, and deflating boats hidden in dunes near Calais, Gravelines, and Wimereux. In one particularly brazen clip, co-leader Ryan Bridges chases a group of suspected smugglers away from a dinghy while shouting in broken French, with no sign of police anywhere.

The group claims they’ve made at least three trips to France in the past fortnight, crowdfunding the trips and openly appealing for “more lads” to join future “operations.” They’ve even floated the idea of “Operation Overlord 2.0” – a mass mobilisation of British men to the French coast, complete with shifts and decoy tactics to dodge authorities.

The reaction? Absolute pandemonium.

On the British right, they’re being hailed as folk heroes. “Finally someone with balls,” wrote one X user with 50,000 likes. Nigel Farage retweeted one of the videos with the caption “The people have had enough.” Tommy Robinson called them “legends” and urged his followers to donate. Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said on GB News: “If the French won’t stop the boats and our own government pays them half a billion to do nothing, can you really blame ordinary blokes for stepping up?”

But across the Channel – and among many in the UK – the footage has triggered outright horror. French prosecutors in Dunkirk have opened a preliminary investigation into “aggravated violence” and criminal damage after earlier incidents in September where British men allegedly attacked migrants and stole belongings while waving Union flags. Charities like Care4Calais branded the actions “dangerous vigilantism that could get people killed,” warning that damaged boats pushed into service anyway become even deadlier death traps.

Human Rights Watch called it “a disturbing escalation that risks turning the Channel into a vigilante war zone.” Even some Tory MPs distanced themselves: “This isn’t patriotism, it’s thuggery on foreign soil,” one backbencher told The Telegraph.

The timing couldn’t be more explosive.

Just weeks ago, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced yet another “groundbreaking” deal – £500 million more from Britain so French police can finally intercept boats in shallow water and use nets on the notorious “taxi boats.” Yet footage from the same beaches shows French gendarmes still largely standing by as dinghies launch at dawn. Critics on the British right scream hypocrisy: “We’re paying France a fortune and they do nothing – so our lads have to!”

Labour has scrambled to distance itself. A Home Office source told the BBC the actions are “reckless and illegal and could “endanger lives on both sides.” Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp went harder: “Crossing into another country to commit criminal damage is not the answer – but it is a symptom of fourteen years of Tory failure followed by Labour’s even bigger failure.”

Meanwhile, the videos keep coming. The latest, posted yesterday shows a slashed dinghy with the caption: “One less invasion boat tonight. Who’s next?”

French authorities have quietly stepped up patrols around known stash sites, and there are unconfirmed reports of confrontations between the vigilantes and local residents. One French fisherman told Le Monde: “We don’t want English hooligans here playing cowboy. This is our coast.”

Yet for Raise the Colours, the publicity is pure rocket fuel. Their follower count has doubled overnight, donations are flooding in, and they’re already advertising the next trip: “Calais, December – be there or keep paying taxes for hotels.”

Whether this is the spark that finally forces real action from London and Paris, or the beginning of an ugly new chapter of cross-Channel chaos, one thing is undeniable: the small-boats crisis just got a lot more dangerous – and a hell of a lot more British.

As one vigilante signs off in the dark: “If politicians won’t save our country… we will.”

The debate is raging. The knives are out. And the Channel has never felt smaller.