Robert Jenrick’s call to deploy the Royal Marines in the Channel has intensified a dispute over whether a tougher maritime response could deter small-boat crossings — or would put unarmed people at unacceptable risk.

Jenrick, Reform UK’s prospective chancellor, said military personnel should be able to use lethal force if necessary, while stressing that this was not his preferred outcome. His stated aim was for people on boats to be picked up and returned directly to France, which he argued could end the crossings “within a matter of days.”¹ He has also urged the government to declare a national-security emergency and said the Navy should “shut down the entire asylum farce once and for all.”

Critics reject both the premise and the proposed means. Andy Burnham said Jenrick’s intervention was not a “serious” proposal, arguing that recorded crossings had fallen under the current government after rising while Jenrick was an immigration minister.¹ The figures cited in the report put arrivals at 20,935 so far this year, down 42% from the same point last year.

The sharper disagreement concerns force at sea. Defence Readiness Minister Luke Pollard called the proposal “abhorrent to British values” as well as “illegal and disgusting,” portraying it as an attempt to divert attention from Reform’s internal difficulties.² Bridget Phillipson similarly said the armed forces should not open fire on unarmed civilians.

Lord Alf Dubs said endangering lives at sea would violate international law and argued that those making the crossing should be treated as people seeking safety, not targets. Zia Yusuf, a Reform figure, sought to frame the wider operation as humanitarian, saying many people on the boats would not have been processed, while adding that intelligence agencies may sometimes hold information about passengers.²

The clash therefore turns less on whether crossings should be reduced than on the limits of state power: Jenrick argues deterrence requires a decisive military posture; his opponents say legal and humanitarian constraints rule out the use of lethal force.