UK Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accuses French warship of firing 17 live rounds near his boat in English Channel

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has accused France of firing "warning shots" at him while he was monitoring illegal migrant crossings in the English Channel.

Philp was speaking to the media about the small boats crisis when a French warship in the background began firing what he described as "live rounds" near his boat.

In a post on X, Philp wrote:

"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 Tory frontbencher was being interviewed a couple of miles off Boulogne when the French warship Flamant passed. A French navy officer then fired 17 shots from a handgun, aimed away from the UK politician, according to The Times, which had a reporter on the boat with Philp.

The French government allegedly told British counterparts that the warship was carrying out a routine training exercise, the newspaper reported.

Fishing Boat Captain Describes Incident as "Strange"

The captain of the fishing boat told Philp that a live firing exercise is usually announced to other vessels on the English Channel — and that he had "never seen anything like it before."

Asked if it could have been an effort to "intimidate" their boat, Matt Coker said:

"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 a show of force or something."

Philp Rejects French Explanation

Philp later rejected France's claims that the incident was a training exercise.

He said:

"The French are now claiming that the shots were a training exercise. This is not credible. There were no warnings in place about live firing training exercises. They fired the live rounds at the closest point of approach to us - and didn't fire anything that we saw before or after. It looked and sounded exactly like deliberate intimidation."

The French embassy has been contacted for comment.

Migrant Crossings Context

Philp's criticism of the migrant crisis comes after Prime Minister Andy Burnham insisted that Labour's plans to reduce small boat crossings is "working," though there is "more to do."

Almost 900 migrants have crossed to the UK from France since Burnham took office last Monday.

A total of 77,183 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel during Keir Starmer's premiership, while 13,007 have arrived in 2026 so far. That latter number is a 45% decrease on the stats recorded this time last year and an 18% reduction on the same period in 2024.

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