Jenrick says Reform would allow lethal force against Channel small boats; minister calls it illegal

Mixed · 2Reform UK's Robert Jenrick told TalkTV that a Reform government would deploy the Royal Marines into the Channel and that, "If they need to use lethal force, then they'll be able to do so." 1 2 Mixed · 2Jenrick added that this was "obviously not what we want to see happen". He said the aim was for people to be picked up off the boats in a sensible and reasonable way and taken straight back to France, and that the problem would end "within a matter of days". 1 2 Left · 1He spoke shortly after Nigel Farage announced Reform's plans to close the UK to asylum seekers at a press conference in Dover. Under the plans all pending asylum cases would be rejected and applicants made liable for deportation, the status of anyone granted asylum since 2024 would be reviewed, and legal resettlement routes other than those for Ukrainians would be abolished. 1

Left · 1Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who came to Britain as a child on the Kindertransport, told the Mirror the remarks were "horrific". He said it was against international law to endanger lives at sea. 1 Left · 1Religious and rights groups, including HIAS+JCORE, Asylum Matters and Freedom from Torture, criticised the wider asylum plans. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said they were "borrowed straight from the Trump playbook". 1 Mixed · 2On Times Radio on Tuesday 13 October, Defence minister Luke Pollard called the proposal "disgusting and illegal" and "abhorrent to British military values". He said the Royal Navy, like all armed forces, cannot accept an illegal order and "We do not shoot unarmed civilians." 3 2

Mixed · 2Pollard also said the remarks were a "soundbite designed by Reform" to distract from "sleaze and scandal" in the party, including questions over where £5 million for Farage came from. He added that Reform councillors were leaving "in droves". 3 2 Centre · 1The Evening Standard said Jenrick's comments followed an interview in which former Royal Marines commander Major-General Julian Thompson told the Mail on Sunday he would machine-gun the boats. It also gave context: 20,478 people have crossed by small boat this year, down 40 per cent on the same period last year, and boats now carry 65 to 68 people on average, against about 7 in 2018. 2 Mixed · 2The coverage describes Jenrick as a former Conservative immigration minister who joined Reform this year, and as the party's pick for Chancellor (the Standard calls him its Treasury spokesperson). The Mirror's opinion pieces refer to Andy Burnham as Prime Minister. No Reform response to Pollard's criticism appears in the coverage. 3 2 4