French warship accused of firing on Tory MP Chris Philp during filming in Channel
The MP declared it an act of 'attempted intimidation' after he posted footage of the incident to social media
Conservative MP Chris Philp has accused a French warship of opening fire during a day of filming in the Channel.
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The incident, which took place on Tuesday morning near Cap Grinez, came after the MP for Croydon South embarked on a filming operation to "monitor illegal migrant crossings".
The MP has now accused the French Navy of "attempted intimidation" after uploading the footage to social media.
Describing the interaction between the British and French vessels, Mr Philp revealed the Navy ship "approached" his boat before it "fired 17 live rounds behind us".
Posting the clip to X, Mr Philp wrote: "On the channel today monitoring illegal migrant crossings … as I was being interviewed by the BBC just now a French warship approached close and fired 17 live rounds behind us.
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He added: "There was no notice or training exercise in place. Felt like warning shots or attempted intimidation."
The incident happened while the vessels were around 300-metres apart, with Mr Philp revealing that the "boat’s skipper has never seen anything like this before".
"There was no notice in place about live firing exercises. There was no warning over the radio or anything else,” he explained.
It comes as Home Office data shows 13 small boats arrived in the UK between 20th and 26th July.
Those small boats were carrying 881 migrants across the Channel, according to the latest figures.
According to The Times, who was with Mr Philp on the boat at the time of the incident, a French Navy officer fired 17 shots from a handgun as he stood on the ship's stern.
The shots were not fired in the direction of the MP, according to reports.
Warships are often seen conducting small arms firing at sea, with the practice often considered part of Naval training routines.
It's not the first time such an incident has taken place in the Channel in recent weeks, after a Russian warship was seen to fire on a British yacht last month.
'It was surreal,' the British couple said as they described the incident, with Russia's Defence Ministry insisting the yacht had been on a "dangerous approach" towards the warship".