It’s time to take armed forces help on migrants

It has been clear for some time that dealing with illegal migration is a political imperative. As has often been pointed out, the numbers of people seeking asylum by irregular routes, principally by crossing the English Channel in small boats, are high by historical standards, even if modest in relation to overall, lawful flows in and out of the UK.

The rise of Reform UK and recent sizeable demonstrations against migration may be largely attributed to a sense of public unease about the issue. It is corrosive. Democratic politicians have to face up to the political and practical challenge this represents, not only by countering extremist propaganda, myths and misinformation, but also by showing the public that some progress is being made to stabilise the situation, according to The Independent.

“Delivery” is essential — and non-negotiable. When so many ministers across both mainstream parties have promised and failed to “stop the boats”, that is no mere routine public policy failure; it is eroding the confidence of some in the democratic political process itself. That is obviously a dangerous trend. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that the future of the Labour government depends on its response.

The recent appointment of a new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, with a completely new ministerial team, is a clear sign that Sir Keir Starmer appreciates the jeopardy his government and his premiership are in, let alone the need to protect public order from periodic threats of unrest.

Ms Mahmood has said that she “will robustly defend the British public’s priorities in any court – and I will do whatever it takes to secure our border”. Plain-spoken, in the Commons, she has condemned her Conservative predecessors for doing “sod all” to get a grip on the situation. She certainly brings energy, determination and a seldom-seen sense of urgency to her task. She will need it.

Some further salience, predictably, has been provided by Donald Trump, who has told the prime minister, privately and now publicly, that he should use the military to end the small boats crisis, warning that irregular migration can “destroy” countries.

As ever with Mr Trump, the lurid language and simplistic approach need to be heavily discounted, but the suggestion he has made has triggered renewed talk about what the armed forces can do to help alleviate the situation – and their contribution could be substantially useful.

In principle, members of the armed forces have always had an obligation to “assist the civilian authorities” in times of crisis, whether that is the long period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, their periodic emergency work driving fire tenders and petrol tankers, or when they administered jabs and built Nightingale hospitals during the Covid pandemic. So it is not such an outlandish idea that they should be deployed to help Border Force and the coastguard service in the English Channel.

In fact, the Royal Navy already has what ministers call a “working relationship” with Border Force, such that the military force can be called upon if needed. Some years ago, indeed, during the Johnson administration, the navy was placed in operational command of all UK forces in the English Channel. The army and the Royal Air Force also put resources into surveillance at sea and, with the cooperation of the French authorities, along the coast.

Labour’s new Border Security Command also involves the security services in its efforts to gather intelligence and “smash the gangs”. It is principally a police operation, but it could also benefit from assistance from the navy and RAF to help Border Force detect and detain criminals operating here and abroad.

The “smash the gangs” campaign has enjoyed some success, but clearly not enough to placate an impatient public. There is also the sad inevitability that, as with the war on drugs, such criminal groups adapt their tactics and business models to whatever the authorities do. It is a hugely lucrative business, after all, with big demand and incentives for the gangs loaded towards taking terrible risks with other people’s lives. In recent times, the navy has stepped back from its command role — but that may have been a mistake.