Major-General Julian Thompson, the commander who led the land operation to liberate the Falklands, has caused a furore by saying migrant boats crossing the Channel should be machine-gunned.
Speaking in a documentary about mass immigration to Britain, the 92-year-old former Royal Marines officer said: “We could stop them tomorrow if we really had the guts. I’d shoot them, sorry, but I would.”
Maj Gen Thompson later clarified that he believed bullets should be directed at the vessels rather than the people on board.
His comments prompted a warning from the Home Office that anyone taking the law into their own hands would face “serious criminal consequences”. The Conservatives also said that opening fire on migrant boats would be “completely wrong”.
Asked whether he feared a backlash, Maj Gen Thompson said: “As long as they don’t come around here, I don’t mind what they do.”
He added: “They come over here and rape our girls. One machine-gun blast is all it would take… then they would get the message. I just want them to bugger off.
“If they [the Government] don’t stop them then there will be a revolution. Our leaders are just wet.”
The remarks were made to journalist Steven Edginton for a documentary being broadcast on his YouTube channel this weekend. In the interview, Maj Gen Thompson also described the Islamic beliefs held by many migrants as “a flawed religion, in that women are totally out. They can be treated like chattels, and children the same”.
More than 20,000 small-boat migrants have arrived so far this year, according to figures cited in the documentary, down 40 per cent on the same period in 2025. However, the average number of people on each boat has risen to 67.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Opening fire on migrant boats would be completely wrong. I understand people’s anger at migrant crossings but we cannot shoot at people. There is another way to end this.”
Mr Philp called for migrants to be deported within a week of arrival and said this would require Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, as set out in the Conservative borders plan.
A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government is bearing down on dangerous and illegal crossings. Anyone who seeks to take the law into their own hands is putting lives at risk and will face serious criminal consequences.”
Maj Gen Thompson joined the Marines in 1952 and served for 34 years. He commanded the ground forces during Operation Sutton, the amphibious landings at San Carlos Water in May 1982, which established a beachhead on East Falkland despite heavy Argentine air attacks.
He later wrote numerous books on military history. Speaking about modern Britain, he said the country was “just going downhill”, adding: “It’s not Britain any more, it’s a sort of funny conglomeration of people, and in a wet country that allows itself to be pushed around all over the place.”
