'Not a serious idea': Burnham dismisses idea of using Royal Navy to block migrant boats after landings
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The idea has been mooted after high-profile migrant boat landings in Portsmouth and Gosport
Putting the Royal Navy in the English Channel to bring down the number of migrant crossings is not a serious proposal, prime minister Andy Burnham has said.
Mr Burnham criticised the idea when Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick put it forward in the House of Commons today (October 12). Reform representatives, including spokesperson for home affairs Zia Yusuf, stated this was necessary to protect borders during visits to Portsmouth and Gosport after recent migrant boat landings.
Mr Jenrick had earlier on Monday told Talk that a Reform government would let the Royal Marines use “lethal force” against migrants crossing the Channel without permission. He told MPs that “we now know that Iran has targeted bases on our soil”, referring to an incident at RAF Fairford last month. The incident, a suspected terror plot, was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Mr Burnham.
Mr Jenrick called for the prime minister to “declare a national security emergency, because we have a gaping hole in our borders right now”. He also called for the government to “send the Royal Navy in to the Channel and shut down the entire asylum farce once and for all”.
Mr Burnham replied: “I can remember a time when (Mr Jenrick) stood up in this House and made serious proposals. Sadly, not today. If he checked the facts recently, he will see that small boat crossings are coming down under this government. When he was immigration minister, what did they do? They went up and up and up.”
Recorded Channel crossings are at their lowest since 2021, with 20,935 arrivals so far this year. This is down 42 per cent on this time last year (36,244), and 19 per cent below the figure at this stage in 2023 (25,931), when Mr Jenrick was the Conservative immigration minister.
Mr Jenrick had earlier told Talk: “Deploy the Royal Marines in to the Channel. If they need to use lethal force, then they’ll be able to do so. That’s obviously not what we want to see happen. We want to see these individuals picked up off the boats in a sensible and reasonable way and taken straight back to France. And I think the problem would come to an end very, very quickly, you know, within a matter of days.”
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Pillipson described the proposal as “disgusting and illegal”. She added in a statement: “Our armed forces are not going to start opening fire on unarmed civilians, and Reform are dragging their own reputations and credibility into the gutter by suggesting it.”
A total of 149 migrants were landed at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport on October 4 after a boat was spotted in the English Channel earlier that day. Occupants were placed on coaches by border force and transported to a processing centre in Kent.
Threats were made to RNLI and Coastguard volunteers carrying out their duties, with police stating that they’re investigating the matter. Around 350 protestors gathered at Haslar Marina after hearing about the migrant boat landing. Officers made 12 arrests, with offences including assaults against police and other emergency workers, racially aggravated public order incidents, failing to comply with dispersal order conditions and others.
In late September, a vessel carrying 51 migrants was heading towards Hampshire before being diverted to Dover. Politicians called on the Home Office to block migrant boat landings, which fell on deaf ears. The government body previously said that “contingency plans” were in place regarding such incidents, but failed to elaborate on what those were.
Eastney Point was the site of a similar landing on September 6. A boat transiting 120 migrants arrived on the shoreline, which sparked large demonstrations. The Eastney lifeboat station was temporarily shut down due to threats made to volunteers, but has since been reopened.
When asked by The News about the Royal Navy being used to block migrant boats in the English Channel, former personnel gave a mixed reaction. The general consensus was that Britain needed strong borders, but the force also has to fulfil its commitments across the world and have the ability to respond to enemies including Russia.
Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage previously said it was “a big ask” to get military personnel involved, give its the duties of Border Force staff and other organisations. The Conservative MP expressed her outrage in parliament about migrants arriving on Hampshire’s shores, more than 100 miles west of the narrowest crossing point near Dover.
She asked the prime minister: “What conversations are happening with France to try and shut down these routes from Normandy?”.
Mr Burnham said people arranging small boats for migrants were “changing their tactics” because the UK’s co-operation with France had been a “success”. He added: “We will be relentless in changing (our tactics) to make sure that they don’t succeed. It’s precisely because we are succeeding in reducing the number of boat crossings that they are having to try different routes.”