French border guard rams speedboat into ship full of migrants in Channel

A French border guard speedboat attempted to ram a migrant ship crossing the Channel.

The inflatable dinghy, which was full of migrants, had only travelled 30 metres towards Calais when it was spotted by a French border guard.

The vessel, which departed Gravelines Beach at around 7:30am local time, was approached by the speedboat which ordered the vessel to turn around and head towards the coast.

However, the black sloop continued its journey across the Channel, with the coast guard ship close behind.

Migrants crossing the Channel (file image)PA

Then it appeared that the border guard speedboat, flashing blue and red, rammed the overcrowded migrant boat.

Witnesses said the sloop was then followed by a French navy ship and the coastguard search and rescue vessel Ridens, both of which attempted to guide the boat into the port of Calais.

More than 19,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, a figure that has risen to 5,500 since Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government came to power, GB News has confirmed.

The milestone was reached last weekend, when more than 450 migrants made the crossing from France in nine boats.

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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper recently announced the creation of a new Border Security Command, and Starmer has vowed to “destroy” the gangs.

Cooper claimed Labour would “get to the heart of the problem” by targeting the criminal smuggling gangs who “make millions from small boat crossings, undermine our border security and put lives at risk”.

Officers will be given new powers under the Counter-Terrorism Act, including the ability to stop and search people at the border, conduct financial investigations and issue search warrants targeting organised crime in relation to immigration.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Washington last month, Starmer said: “This is a command that will lead the charge to destroy the gangs and as I have said many times, having been part of operations that have taken down gangs myself – police and prosecutors across borders are gathering evidence and intelligence, sharing data, having an arrest strategy, a prosecution strategy, an evidence strategy, have successfully taken down many gangs, including terrorist gangs.

Keir Starmer has vowed to ‘crush the gangs’

“I don’t accept that these are the only gangs that cannot be taken down.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which undermine border security and endanger lives.

“The new Government is taking steps to improve our border security by establishing a new Border Security Command that will bring together our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terrorism powers and hundreds of staff based in the UK and abroad to help defeat criminal smuggling gangs that are making millions in profits.”