Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Bedford Excerpts

Monday 8th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Al Carns]

I could not agree more with the hon. Member. Obviously, in our Minister for the armed forces, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Derbyshire (Louise Sandher-Jones), we have an individual who has lived experience of being a female in the armed forces. It is really important to mention the individual who sits at the bottom of the command chain—where do they go if they are experiencing a problem? Where do they seek help, and who do they complain to? In some cases, they cannot do it within the chain of command. It may not be appropriate or they may not want to, which is why the violence against women and girls taskforce is so important, as well as the tri-service complaints system. It will allow people to come outside the command chain, raise those issues, and make sure they are dealt with appropriately.

[Mr Peter Bedford (Mid Leicestershire) (Con)]

5. Whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the use of military assets to help prevent crossings by illegal migrants of the English channel.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Luke Pollard)]

The Prime Minister has made tackling small boats and closing every asylum hotel a priority. Last week, I met ministerial colleagues from across Government to discuss how Defence will contribute to that work. We have deployed a military planning team to assist the Border Security Command and the Home Office, looking at military and non-military sites for temporary but adequate housing so that we can accelerate closing asylum hotels.

[Mr Bedford]

The safety and security of my constituents is my No. 1 priority. Given the national security risk posed by some of those who cross the English channel illegally, I ask the Minister to look again at using military assets to physically stop those small boats from landing in the first place. Will he do that today?

[Luke Pollard]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question, and I share his passion for keeping our country safe. I refer him to the work of Operation Isotrope, a military operation undertaken by the last Conservative Government that put the Navy in charge of securing the English channel. That operation concluded that naval assets were not suitable for that task; it is already a dangerous crossing, and it concluded that military assets only made it more dangerous. That is why the armed forces are now assisting the Home Office and the Border Security Command, looking at how we can provide the accommodation that will enable us to close the asylum hotels, as well as how we can speed up the processing of asylum applications—something the Government that the hon. Gentleman backed shamefully stopped when they were in power. There is a lot of work to do, but we are making progress.