The French Navy has been accused of “attempted intimidation” after an officer on a warship appeared to fire warning shots within 300m of a Conservative shadow minister who was filming a video on a fishing boat in the Channel.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp was filming a video about small boat crossings when what appeared to be a French warship passed by.
According to The Times, who was with Mr Philp on the boat, a French Navy officer standing at the stern of the ship fired 17 shots from a handgun, aiming away from the MP.
Posting to social media, Mr Philp said: “On the channel today monitoring illegal migrant crossings … as I was being interviewed by the BBC just now a French warship approached close and fired 17 live rounds behind us.
“There was no notice or training exercise in place. Felt like warning shots or attempted intimidation.”
The captain of the fishing boat, Matt Coker, told The Times he believed it was an attempt at intimidation, saying he had “never seen anything like it before”.
He added: “It’s a bit strange that as they approached us there wasn’t fire or anything and then as they went past, afterwards there wasn’t fire or anything.
“They only seemed to be firing the weapons when they were right alongside us. So I find that a bit strange because we’ve got all this open sea out here.
“So it sounds like it might have been an effort to intimidate us. It could well have been; it might have just been a little bit of a warning shot. Maybe just to show a force or something.”
Mr Philp added: “They started firing at the closest point to us on their course, right in the middle of the TV interview, which they would have seen happening. It felt to me like an attempted intimidation to stop us covering the migrant crossings.”
The incident came as prime minister Andy Burnham insisted that the government’s plan to tackle small boats crossing the Channel is “working”, but admitted there is “more to do”.
Almost 900 migrants have crossed to the UK from France since Mr Burnham took over No 10 last Monday, including one “mega dinghy” carrying 165 people on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Derby, the prime minister said: “The home secretary has brought forward a very rigorous plan in relation to this, and let’s remember, the numbers can fluctuate but overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year on year. So that does suggest that the plan is working.”
Asked if he recognised that the small boats may represent a “threat to national security”, Mr Burnham said he wanted “all relevant and necessary checks” to be completed.
He said: “There have to be rigorous checks so that people are not put through into a situation where they are out without the relevant safeguards, and absolutely, I can give you a commitment that that is the clear instruction that I am giving. That all relevant and necessary checks must be done.
“It’s about getting a grip on the entire situation. I raised this repeatedly through the Makerfield by-election.
“The public wants to see control being exerted, and while we’ve made progress, there is more to do, and I recognise that completely.
“But the trend is down, and the number of people being removed is up, so the figures are pointing in a better direction. But there is much more to do.”
Some 77,183 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership from Labour’s election victory in July 2024.
According to recent Home Office figures, 13,007 arrivals have been recorded this year. This is 45 per cent lower than the number recorded by this time last year and down 18 per cent on the same period in 2024.
