Defense chiefs are said to be tired of trying to implement the prime minister’s and home secretary’s fast-collapsing plan to use the military to control small boats in the English Channel. Figures from the Ministry of Defense show that crossings have almost doubled since the military was given “first position” on the issue from mid-April compared with the first three months of this year. Patel and Johnson were warned that the deployment of the Royal Navy was likely to increase the number of crossings, but ignored expert advice because, according to insiders, they wanted to appear tough. A former defense secretary told the Observer that their miscalculation had ensured the navy was effectively providing an “efficient taxi service” for asylum seekers. Meanwhile, senior Home Office sources admitted the UK could receive up to 60,000 people by small boat this year – double last year’s record – with a further 20,000 arriving from different routes, undermining Patel’s credibility. which has set as its priority the reduction of crossings. Patel will be grilled by the home affairs select committee this Wednesday over Channel crossings, the lack of safe, legal passage to the UK and her plan to seek asylum in Rwanda. The government has spent significant sums trying to remove asylum seekers in east Africa, but has yet to deport a single person. Defense chiefs hope Johnson’s resignation is an opportunity to scrap the Channel initiative, as it also commits resources at a time of escalating international security threats. Tobias Ellwood, Conservative chairman of the influential defense committee, which completed a damning inquiry into the use of the military in the English Channel, said: “I know the Foreign Office really want to get away from this, they want this done. There will be less political pressure now. The prime minister is going.” The former soldier added: “From my personal perspective, I can say that this is a complete waste of naval time. The navy is already overstretched.” John Spellar, Labour’s vice-chairman of the defense committee and a former defense secretary, said the plan had effectively reduced the navy to a “taxi service”. Spellar added: “As it stands now, it does not achieve any significant improvement in the situation, but involves the military in a task for which they are not qualified and which is potentially reputational.” Their committee has heard evidence from naval commanders that the use of naval means would not only be a deterrent, but would make the passage safer and therefore more attractive to small craft. This Tuesday, Defense Secretary James Hippie will be questioned by the committee about the perceived and actual lack of operational effectiveness of the operation. His appearance comes after ministers and officials from the Ministry of Defense and the Home Office refused to testify at the defense committee’s inquiry. When the Home Office and Foreign Office were asked by the Observer to explain the legal basis for the army’s involvement in the English Channel as part of the so-called Operation Isotropic, neither responded. It is also understood that the national security council, the main forum for the collective discussion of the government’s national security objectives, was not requested before Isotropic’s announcement. Figures from the Ministry of Development show a clear increase in migrants crossing in small boats. In May, 2,871 migrants were apprehended crossing the Channel by small boat compared to 1,627 in May 2021, an increase of 75%. Similarly, in the first three months of 2022, 4,540 people were detected arriving in small boats compared to 7,432 in the last half of April, May and June after the Foreign Office took over. Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the use of the navy had proved futile. He said: “It is also expensive and shows how the government is obsessed with controlling both compassion and capacity. “Prime Ministers since Churchill have always given people fleeing persecution and bloodshed a fair hearing on UK soil. To use the military to push them back and try to expel them to Rwanda is an ugly and crude response.” The Ministry of Defense said: “As part of the Government’s efforts to tackle illegal immigration, the Ministry of Defense took priority for the operational response to small boat migration in the English Channel in April. “The armed forces complement the assets, expertise and experience of the Border Force and provide operational oversight and coordination of maritime operations. This agreement is likely to remain in place until early 2023.” The Home Office was approached for comment but declined to respond.
