Politics
Anti-migrant journo accused of illegally entering UK
A journalist known for pushing anti-migrant sentiment has gone undercover on a small boat crossing in the channel. Now, people are asking if he’s broken the law by doing so.
Notably, the journalist carried this action out in coordination with Isabel Oakeshott — a Reform-supporting journalist who’s in a relationship with the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice:
— Isabel Oakeshott (@IsabelOakeshott) August 25, 2026
Migrant-investigating watchman
The journalist in question is one Christian Drogan of the ‘Watchman’ group. Watchman describes itself as following:
Watchman is a non-partisan platform documenting real-world experiences across Britain, with a focus on verified reporting, public submissions, and community-led journalism.
We publish carefully reviewed public submissions, including video footage, images and first hand testimony, highlighting the impact of migration in the UK, pressures on public services and wider social and political issues. Coverage includes small boat crossings, asylum seekers, housing pressures, NHS strain and the effects of UK migration policy on local communities.
The idea that the group is ‘non-partisan’ is interesting given that the Teams section of the Watchman site pictures just two people – Drogan and Oakeshott. Anyone with any awareness of Oakeshott knows she is one of the most partisan journalists in the UK. Much of her current reporting is openly supportive of Reform UK, and she’s in a relationship with the party’s deputy:
Reform accuses National Crime Agency of leaking bank statements https://t.co/9VIXkFKKFU
— Isabel Oakeshott (@IsabelOakeshott) July 7, 2026
Oakeshott has also attracted criticism for the following:
Here's Middle East migrant, Isabel Oakeshott, telling us that she hasn't bothered to learn the language yet. pic.twitter.com/kV0kcLUDq2
— Haggis_UK
Crossing
Drogan’s story was published in the Telegraph. It focusses on his attempts to board a small boat from France to Britain, and features passages like this:
Boarding the blubbery black vessel that now lurked in shallow waters waiting for its human cargo would be the culmination of a year of painstaking groundwork and intelligence gathering. The preparations had been physically gruelling, expensive, and at times extremely dangerous. Through multiple failed attempts, I had learned the hard way that a white-skinned English man is an instant source of suspicion in these circles – no matter how downtrodden he looks. Though I could – and often did – pass for a Kurd, the ruse only worked while I kept my mouth shut. Unfortunately, I don’t speak a word of Arabic, Farsi, or any other foreign languages.
It’s notable that the situation for Drogan wasn’t as serious as it was for the asylum seekers he would later travel alongside:
On one particularly epic day of this twisted travelling circus, I notched up 42,000 steps. In cheap trainers that were never designed for such distances, I was soon limping like a bona fide asylum seeker.
Eye on the prize, I kept going.
Eventually, I received an alert that made my heart leap and my pulse quicken: “game” was tomorrow. I was instructed to make my way to a final holding camp in the woods.
Drogan would go on to board a small boat bound for the UK, but was caught by Border Force and taken to a processing facility.
Breaking the law?
One question people are asking is whether Drogan broke the law:
This should be fun.
These two twats filmed themselves breaking the law.
I'm going to assume you knew about it and did nothing.
That's you fucked too.@TiceRichard pic.twitter.com/OUU00uekrY — MrTibblesNewEra (@MrTibblesNewEra) August 25, 2026
In his piece, Drogan wrote the following (emphasis added):
Official Home Office figures will tell you that on Aug 2, 2026, a total of 35 illegal immigrants crossed the Channel. Quite rightly, the statistics do not record me: the only person to have invaded without breaking the law.
The problem is it’s illegal to enter the UK from a foreign country without doing so through official checks – even if you are a British citizen.
Drogan’s belief that he didn’t break the law might rely on the fact that he was caught by Border Force and taken to a processing facility. Drogan admitted he was a journalist at the facility, and so he did deal with customs in a sense; the question is whether this is legally excusable given the situation.
A counter to this is that there should be some leeway for journalists to observe criminal activity up close, and that sometimes that will necessitate breaking various laws. We might not like Watchman and we may be dubious of their intentions, but we’re also wary of attempts to further criminalise journalists.
Migrant dehumanising narrative
Regardless of the legality of all this, this coverage is being pushed by Oakeshott and other Reform sources to once again dehumanise and discredit asylum seekers. Why are they doing this? Because doing so draws attention from the people who are actually rinsing this country — the billionaires who have gotten richer and richer while the rest of us have suffered.
Featured image via Watchman Media
By Willem Moore
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