The military is to be put in charge of stemming the surge in illegal migrants crossing the Channel and could take charge of controversial “pushback” tactics to turn away boats at sea.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, is expected to announce the move within weeks as part of Boris Johnson’s attempted fightback. Dubbed Operation Red Meat, it is aimed at wooing back voters with populist policies after the “partygate” scandal.
The Armed Forces will be able to deploy Naval ships, boats and sophisticated surveillance technology to bolster Border Force, which is limited to just five cutters.
The Navy will step in if Border Force officers go on strike or refuse to deploy the pushback tactics, where jet skis block and redirect migrants’ boats back towards France.
It is designed to combat record numbers of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, but has not yet been used – despite being legally signed off by government lawyers in September.
Strike action threat over ‘pushback’ tactics
The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents some border and immigration officials, has said it “totally opposes” the policy and has threatened strike action. It has also joined with the Care4Calais charity to seek a judicial review of the tactic, which it claims is illegal.
Ministers are also being urged by some border officials to let the military transport migrants go to offshore processing centres, as proposed in the Government’s nationality and borders bill, or even operate deportation flights of foreign criminals.
Military accommodation, including barracks, could also be used to house migrants rather than hotels, before the Government’s new network of reception centres are built.
A government source said it would be up to the Ministry of Defence to determine operational deployments. “Priti called for the military to defend UK territorial waters against illegal migration in August 2020, when the first request for support went into the MoD,” said a Whitehall source.
“After months of cross government wrangling, the Prime Minister has agreed with Priti that a clear operational deterrent with the support of the MoD and a change in at sea posture is required. Current Border Force operations are hampered by trade union actions.”
The moves follow a record 28,300 migrants crossing the Channel to the UK last year, more than three times the 8,400 in 2020. There is no sign of a decline this year – 581 have already crossed the Channel this month, already more than double the total for January last year.
