BBC star Lord Sugar calls for Royal Navy to stop asylum seekers getting to UK
The star of The Apprentice outlines what his priorities would be as prime minister.
Lord Sugar says he would use the Royal Navy to intercept migrants on small boats (Image: Getty)
Lord Alan Sugar has said he would ask the Royal Navy to stop asylum seekers arriving on small boats if he were prime minister. The star of the BBC series The Apprentice included the idea in a list of his priorities in response to requests from fans to outline what he would do if he were in charge of the country.
Top of his list is building five, large “modern-day” prisons as well as recruiting 10,000 more police and prison officers, paid for by cutting back on military spending. The crossbench peer detailed his final priority by writing on X: “My understanding of asylum seekers is that if they are trying to leave an oppressed county where they are in danger, they are supposed to go to nearest safe county (sic). “The people arriving on the shores of the UK have passed through plenty of safe countries. I would ask the Royal Navy to stop them arriving.”
Lord Sugar‘s immigration priority was welcomed by many of his followers, but quite a few disagreed with his military spending proposal. Some cautioned him to be careful in case critics labelled his “far right”. The entrepreneur’s understanding of where people should first claim asylum also differs from international law.
This does not say refugees have to claim asylum in the first safe country they arrive at. People fleeing persecution can seek asylum in any country which is a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Lord Sugar may have been thinking of EU regulations, which state that a country inside the bloc can return an adult asylum seeker to the first European country they reached.
His support for using the Royal Navy to intercept migrant vessels is similar to Reform UK’s “Operation Fortress” proposal, which would involve using navy offshore patrol vessels instead of Border Force to “shadow” dinghies.
Migrants would then be escorted to France or Belgium in what Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has described as the largest military operation in the English Channel since the Second World War.
Under former prime minister Boris Johnson‘s Government, the UK launched Operation Isotrope, which included plans for “pushbacks”. But the plan to force small boats to turn back to France was abandoned amid concerns it would be dangerous and could result in legal action against navy personnel.
A founding principle of maritime law is that mariners must rescue anyone in distress at sea. Mr Farage argues his plan is not “pushback”, but involves rescuing and returning Channel migrants.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said if France refused to accept the returns, marines would take them back regardless. Experts have warned that such moves would be illegal and cause a diplomatic row between the UK and France.
A Government minister said such a policy would result in a lot of arguing between London and Paris with nothing much getting done to actually solve the problem. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh told the BBC the Government’s action against people smuggling gangs was working and the idea was “gimmicky”.
Shocking moment migrant leaves child in the sea during horror Channel crossing
Shocking video footage showed a man carrying a child into the water, only to abandon the youngster
Migrant abandons child during Channel migrant crossing
This is the harrowing moment a migrant left an injured child and climbed onto a Channel dinghy as the stricken youngster was rescued.
Footage of the man carrying the terrified tot through the waves to a waiting taxi-boat emerged on the same day 781 people crossed. After a wave crashes into the small child near Berck, the migrant continues pushing towards the boat, which was already packed with asylum seekers.
A wave then carries the vessel into the pair, and the dazed child starts floating on top of the water. French lifeboat crews rushed through the water, lifting the shocked child onto a rescue paddleboard. But the man shockingly turns away and tries to climb onto the dinghy.
The bewildered child is then left sitting nearby, watching, as dozens of people flounder in the water, with others still trying to clamber onto the boat.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a sickening and heartbreaking scene. A few weeks ago, I saw a similar embarkation myself, where the young male illegal immigrants pushed women and children off the boat.
“The needy are abandoned and young, often-violent men push their way to the front and enter the UK. Women have recently died during crossings on these boats in unexplained circumstances. This illegal immigration route must be completely ended.
“The French government is morally culpable for letting it happen on their beaches when they could easily stop it, as the Belgians have done. The charities supporting this wave of illegal immigration are equally guilty for what is happening, including for the deaths that have occurred.”
The man carries the child towards the dinghy (Image: NowherePhotographer)
The child, apparently unmoving, falls into the water (Image: NowherePhotographer)
Rescuers approach the child (Image: NowherePhotographer)
The child is taken away (Image: NowherePhotographer)
France’s Maritime Prefect for the Channel and the North Sea said the child had been taken into care after the incident on Monday afternoon.
The organisation said: “The gendarmerie and the fire service subsequently took charge of the child, and the prefecture’s land-based services then took over. The child was taken into care following a medical incident.”
The astonishing moment came as 781 people crossed the Channel – a record number for this year.
It will heap pressure on ministers as they desperately try to convince people the borders are secure.
Some 18,565 people have crossed the Channel this year, down 42% on the equivalent point last year.
New analysis has revealed the number of migrants to have crossed the Channel under Labour is greater than the number of full-time soldiers in the British Army.
Some 83,279 people have arrived in small boats, overtaking the 83,000 in the Army.
An average of 103 people per day have crossed the Channel in the 809 days since Labour won the keys to Downing Street.
Mr Philp said: “Labour has let an entire Army-sized population cross the Channel illegally.
“More people have arrived in small boats than we have soldiers defending Britain. That is completely bonkers. Labour has lost control of our borders and seems utterly incapable of getting it back.
“The Conservative plan is to end hotels and benefits for illegal immigrants and instead deport them.”
The dinghy packed with migrants (Image: NowherePhotographer)
But Labour’s Lucy Powell, the Education Secretary, sensationally claimed that Border Force cannot intercept every single migrant crossing.
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, launched an “urgent review” as officials confirmed at least 21 asylum seekers arrived in Samphire Hoe on Tuesday.
Others are feared to be on the run, with the Home Office carrying out a “thorough investigation”.
And at least five migrants were detected at The Warren, a rocky stretch of coast near Folkestone, on Monday. The crossings were the first unauthorised landings in a year
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s Home Affairs spokesman, said: “This is an abject surrender of our borders by Lucy Powell and Labour. Every migrant boat can and should be intercepted, but this government is too gutless to deploy the Royal Navy and protect the British public from this invasion of undocumented fighting-age men.”
Mr Yusuf added: “It’s abundantly clear that this government will not stop the invasion of unvetted fighting-age males into our country.
“Instead, they are incentivising them with lavish police motorcades to their taxpayer-funded hotels, all while the British public struggles to afford to live in our own country.
“Labour’s promise to smash the gangs is in complete tatters. Without withdrawing from the ECHR and deploying the Royal Navy, the boats will keep on coming, and Brits will continue being forced to foot the bill for these invaders.”
Ms Powell echoed that language on Thursday but suggested not all crossings could be prevented.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if the situation was embarrassing for the Government, she responded: “(You) can’t stop everything all of the time.
“Of course, it’s a concern. That’s why the Home Secretary has demanded and ordered this urgent review, because this is not what we want to see. This is not acceptable.
“But the overall picture is an improving picture. It is hard, difficult work that requires constant, constant effort by our border forces, our security services, police, our partnerships with France and other countries.
“This is a mammoth and huge task, which is now starting to reap some dividends. But of course, you know where there are still issues arising, we must absolutely tackle them.”
Pressed on Good Morning Britain whether she stood by her statement, Ms Powell said: “I think you’re just taking that completely out of context.
“We are clamping down on small boat crossings every single day… we are sucking the oxygen out of it, we are taking steps, and there are many, many steps.
“It’s not an easy thing to do to just turn on a switch, turn off a switch overnight. We have to constantly evolve.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42% and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.
“But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.”