Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp says the vessel fired 17 shots as he was giving a BBC interview.

An MP has said a French patrol boat fired gunshots while he was in the English Channel conducting media interviews. Chris Philp MP was being interviewed about small boat crossings by BBC South East when what he believes to be a French warship passed by. Noises which sounded like gunshots were then heard in the background, according to BBC journalist Michael Keohan. No notice or training exercise were in place, with Philp saying he believed it was an intimidation tactic or warning shots. He said it "felt to me like an attempted intimidation to stop us covering migrant crossings". At sea, Keohan described it as "the most unusual moment... in the quiet of the Channel" when 17 gunshots rung out mid-interview. He said he saw a French patrol officer at the back of the boat pointing a pistol towards the sea and believed that was where the shots came from. Keohan added: "There was no warning for our boat, no signs given, that this was the French's intention.