British Conservative MP Chris Philp claimed a French naval patrol vessel fired 17 live handgun rounds near him while he was aboard a fishing boat in the English Channel on July 28. The incident occurred near Boulogne during a BBC interview as Philp observed migrant boats leaving the French coast [1, 2, 3].
Philp said the shots appeared to be "warning shots or attempted intimidation" aimed at stopping his coverage of the migrant small boats crisis. He stated, "French warship approached close and fired 17 live rounds behind us," and added there were no warnings about live firing exercises in place [1, 2, 3].
Matt Coker, the fishing boat's captain, called the timing and location of the shots unusual and possibly intimidating. He said, "So it sounds like it might have been an effort to intimidate us. It could well have been, it might have just been a little bit of a warning shot." Michael Keohan, the BBC interviewer, noted there was no warning or clear target for the gunfire. "Even now it’s still not clear what the patrol boat was aiming at," he said [1].
French authorities offered a different account. A spokesperson from the French Maritime Prefecture said the gunfire was part of a routine live-fire handgun training exercise conducted by the patrol vessel Flamant off Cap Gris-Nez. The spokesperson added that all required safety signals and perimeters had been respected, and the British vessel was outside the firing range. They denied any connection between the exercise and the British boat's presence or activity [2, 3].
The incident follows other recent naval live-fire events in the Channel. The previous week, a Russian naval ship conducted a notified live-fire exercise off southern England. In June, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a yacht in the Channel [2, 3].
Philp was aboard the fishing boat to observe migrant small boats departing the French coast. He and witnesses described the 17 shots fired by the French naval vessel as close and unexpected, but French officials maintain the exercise was routine and unrelated to Philp’s activity [1, 2, 3].
