‘Illegal and disgusting:’ Defence minister slams Robert Jenrick’s suggestion Royal Navy should shoot migrant boats in Channel

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A minister has condemned comments made by Reform UK’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick suggesting that the military could shoot migrant boats attempting to cross the Channel.

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Defence minister Luke Pollard described the remarks as “illegal and disgusting”, saying they were “abhorrent to British military values”.

Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer on TalkTV, Mr Jenrick suggested that the Royal Navy could use “lethal force” against migrant boats attempting to reach the UK.

His comments came after former Royal Marines commander Major-General Julian Thompson told the Mail on Sunday that he would machine-gun the boats, saying he wanted migrants to “bugger off”.

Mr Jenrick qualified his remarks by saying that his preferred approach would be for migrants to be picked up and returned to France, but suggested that “lethal force” could be an option.

“That’s not what we want to see happen,” he said, but argued that the “problem would come to an end in a matter of days”.

Mr Jenrick also claimed that Reform UK was the only political party with the “courage” to make such comments.

Responding on Times Radio this morning, Mr Pollard condemned the suggestion that British armed forces could be ordered to shoot at civilians.

“Our Royal Navy are not allowed, as all armed forces are, to accept an illegal order.

“We do not shoot unarmed civilians. We do not take military action against civilians.

“The idea of this, when you extend from the soundbite designed by Reform to distract from their sleaze and the scandal designed to take away attention on where the 5 million pounds came from for Nigel Farage […] it is abhorrent to British military values.

“It’s abhorrent to British values, and frankly, it’s illegal and disgusting.”

A total of 20,478 people have crossed the English Channel by small boat this year, down 40 per cent on the same period in the previous year.

While overall arrival numbers have fallen, the average number of people packed onto each vessel has risen dramatically, averaging 65 to 68 people per boat in 2026 compared to just 7 people per boat in 2018.

A single-day record for 2026 was set on Wednesday, September 23, when 781 migrants arrived across 10 small boats.