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On the channel today monitoring illegal migrant crossings … as I was being interviewed by the BBC just now a French warship approached close and fired 17 live rounds behind us. There was no notice or training exercise in place. Felt like warning shots or attempted intimidation pic.twitter.com/tuDv4DOnFO— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) July 28, 2026
Chris Philp has had a rather eventful morning. While filming an interview about small boats aboard a fishing vessel in the Channel, the Shadow Home Secretary watched as a French warship fired a volley of shots just 300 metres away.
A French naval officer standing at the stern of the vessel, a couple of miles off Boulogne-sur-Mer, fired 17 rounds from a handgun. The shots were aimed away from Philp – but he believes the display was intended to intimidate him into abandoning his coverage of dinghy crossings.
Philp said: ‘On the channel today monitoring illegal migrant crossings … as I was being interviewed by the BBC just now a French warship approached close and fired 17 live rounds behind us. There was no notice or training exercise in place. Felt like warning shots or attempted intimidation.’
