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The UK military’s primary focus remains national defense, rather than intercepting asylum seekers crossing the English Channel, according to a cabinet minister.
During his recent state visit, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested potential military involvement in addressing illegal migration to the UK.
However, Trade Secretary Peter Kyle has dismissed this proposition, stating on BBC Breakfast that the UK Border Force is specifically mandated to police the nation’s borders.
Reports indicate that approximately 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel earlier on Friday, coinciding with two more deportations under the government’s “one in, one out” agreement with France.
It is believed that six boats departed from northern France, as smugglers capitalized on a lull in the Channel’s typically windy conditions. Crossings had been suspended for a week prior due to rough seas.
French authorities rescued 23 individuals on Friday who encountered difficulties at sea; however, others declined assistance and continued toward the UK.
Migrants, including two young children, were subsequently observed being transported from the Port of Dover by coach.
The Home Office is expected to confirm the figure of 1,000 crossings on Saturday. Approximately 32,000 individuals have made the journey thus far in 2025, marking a record for this point in the year.
On Friday morning, an Eritrean man became the second migrant deported under the government’s agreement with France, following the dismissal of his High Court appeal to prevent his removal.
The Home Office successfully tightened regulations surrounding human trafficking claims to secure the outcome of that case.
On Friday afternoon, Home Office sources confirmed that an Iranian male had also been returned to France after crossing the Channel in a small boat.
During a press conference at Chequers on Thursday, President Trump suggested that military intervention would be a more effective deterrent than the Labour government’s diplomatic approach, which focuses on negotiating returns and strengthening court guidance.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir Starmer at the prime minister’s country residence, Trump asserted that such force was necessary, as illegal migration “destroys countries from within.”
He stated, “You have people coming in, and I told the prime minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.”
When questioned about the U.S. president’s claims, Kyle responded on BBC Breakfast, “Well, what he suggested was the military are used, but we have the UK Border Force that is now established and has been reinforced and bolstered and have new powers under this government.”
“The navy actually does have a working relationship with the UK Border Force, and the navy can be called upon if needed, so we do have the functional relationship that we need between our military and keeping our borders safe and secure.”
“But what we really need at the moment is our military focused on all of those really key issues around the world, directly relating to our national defence.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge dismissed Trump’s suggestion that military could be used to cut illegal migration, saying it would be “extremely complicated”.
He told BBC Look East that “we have a border force…we need a deterrent” and cited the Conservative government’s Rwanda plan, which he said would have been “extremely effective”.
The Supreme Court ruled that the African country could not be considered to be safe at all, because of human rights abuses, and the plan was scrapped almost immediately after Labour took office last year.
Trump has issued a series of executive orders implementing a broad ban on asylum for migrants entering at the southern US border and has sent in troops to assist border security efforts.
The arrests of migrants by the US Border Patrol have been decreasing since Trump took office.
The Conservatives and Reform UK are calling for tougher action on migration, with Reform saying it would bar anyone who comes to the UK on small boats from claiming asylum.
Neither party has proposed using military force, although Nigel Farage has said a Reform government would tow small boats back to France “as an absolute last resort”.
The Ministry of Defence recently stated that military assets were acquired “for defence tasks” and are “not optimized” for tackling illegal migration.
General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of UK Joint Forces Command, cautioned that the British military’s involvement would be limited by the “very different geography” associated with migration flows.
Speaking to The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4, he added, “I don’t think France is going to be very enthusiastic about British troops on French beaches, unless they were very carefully co-ordinated.”
He further suggested that the military was unlikely to “add very much” to existing efforts to spot boats using commercial drones.
“When migrants arrive in the UK, the Home Office has a system for gathering them up and the military would add manpower to that but they’re not going to make the problem any different.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged to combat what she termed “vexatious, last-minute claims,” and Kyle characterized her as “straining at the bit” to ensure the success of the pilot one-in-one-out scheme for migrant returns.
“We’re making sure we get as many people as don’t have the right to be here returned as swiftly as possible,” he said, adding there are “a lot of cases” going through court.
Asked whether there was any target figure for the number of returns, Kyle said: “Our target is to make sure that everybody who comes to our shore and doesn’t have the right to stay is removed from the country, that is our target.
“We want to get a full grip on the system, we want to make sure people see a functioning system that’s delivering so rapidly, efficiently and swiftly that people don’t come here in the first place, that’s the deterrent that we need.”
Approximately 100 men who arrived in the UK by small boat are currently held in immigration removal centers near Heathrow and may be removed to France under the scheme.
The Home Office has announced plans for additional deportation flights throughout next week and has launched a government appeal aimed at reducing the time migrants have to present evidence to challenge their removal.
More than 5,500 migrants have reached the UK since the scheme came into effect at the start of August but the government is hoping continuing removal flights will act as a deterrent.
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