Tories’ Philp accuses French navy of firing shots near him in Channel incident

Chris Philp says patrol vessel may have been trying to stop him highlighting the small boats crisis

UK politics live – latest updates

A Conservative MP has claimed a French warship fired warning shots near a boat he was on in the Channel in an attempt to stop him covering the small boats crisis.

Chris Philp, who is his party’s home affairs spokesperson, was being interviewed by the BBC a couple of miles off Boulogne on Tuesday when the warship Flamant passed by. As it did so, a French navy officer standing at the stern fired 17 shots from a handgun, aiming away from Philp.
Continue reading...