On 24 September 2026 Restore Britain announced a proposed UK Borders & Coastal Command (opens in a new tab). Its paper describes a new organisation to monitor and secure maritime borders. This guide explains the proposal; it does not describe an existing government service.
What would Coastal Command do?
The 74-page paper (opens in a new tab) proposes combining maritime enforcement, surveillance, rescue and pollution response in one civilian service. Personnel would hold constable powers.
A reformed Border Force would cover land, air and shore-side functions; Coastal Command would operate at sea through the Home Office. Designated capabilities would transfer to Royal Navy control in war or a defined defence emergency.
How quickly could it be established?
The proposed timetable is a six-month assessment, initial capability around 18 months and full capability by year four, with roughly 5,000 paid personnel plus volunteers. These milestones start from implementation, rather than publication.
What are the cost estimates?
Annex A estimates £3.7bn of additional establishment spending over four years, with a planning range of £3.2–4.2bn. At full capability, gross running costs are estimated at £1.41bn a year; transferring existing budgets leaves roughly £0.9–1.0bn of additional annual funding.
These are the party's planning estimates, subject to assessment and audit. Long-term replacement of inherited vessels is excluded. Establishment spending and annual running costs should be read separately.
How does this relate to immigration policy?
The announcement presents maritime border security as the plan's purpose. It sits alongside the party's separate immigration and asylum proposals and mass deportation paper. Readers can distinguish those proposals from the official statistics on our numbers page.
For the wider diplomatic and defence positions, see foreign policy. The official papers index (opens in a new tab) lists the underlying publication; our timeline puts it alongside the party's other announcements.