A French Navy patrol vessel carried out a live handgun training exercise in the English Channel during a BBC interview with Britain's Shadow Home Secretary, prompting accusations from the opposition politician that the gunfire amounted to an attempt at intimidation.


The incident occurred at about 09:15 BST (10:15 CET) as Conservative MP Chris Philp was being interviewed aboard a fishing boat by BBC journalist Michael Keohan about small boat migrant crossings.


The French patrol vessel, identified by French authorities as PSP Flamant, was sailing roughly three miles off the French coast and approximately 300 metres from the British vessel.






According to the BBC crew, 17 shots were fired during the exercise without any prior warning to their boat.


Keohan said: "There was no warning for our boat, no signs given that this was the French's intention."


He added: "Even now it's still not clear what the patrol boat was aiming at."


Footage and photographs from the scene showed a French patrol officer at the stern of the vessel pointing a handgun towards the sea, where the shots are believed to have been fired.


Philp said he believed the gunfire was intended as a warning.


"It felt to me like an attempted intimidation to stop us covering migrant crossings," he said.


French authorities rejected that interpretation, saying the shooting formed part of a routine training exercise unrelated to the presence of the British vessel. They said PSP Flamant was not conducting operations to monitor migrant boats and that the British fishing boat remained outside the firing range.


The captain of the fishing boat carrying the interview team, Matt Coker, described the episode as unprecedented.


"I've never seen anything like it before," he said.


Following the incident, Philp criticised the French authorities over their handling of migrant crossings.


"It is extraordinary that the French Navy will fire live rounds to defend their waters against a visiting British politician but cannot bear to do anything about stopping illegal Channel crossings.


"If France showed people smugglers half the seriousness they showed me, the boats would stop.


"Instead, the French wave them through and pass them off to the British coastguard so it's our problem."


Philp said he would raise the matter with the French ambassador.


By Aghakazim Guliyev