Should Britain deploy the navy to prevent small-boat crossings?
It would be politically popular, but previous efforts did not help
In a joint press conference on September 18th Donald Trump, America’s president, was asked what advice he had for Britain’s prime minister to “stop illegal migration” across the English Channel. Amid the rambling response one line jumped straight onto the front page of Britain’s tabloids: he could just “call out the military”.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Rule, Britannia!”
From the September 27th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
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Where should Britain hide its nuclear waste?
Cumbria is considering whether to host a radioactive tomb
Why Labour’s growth mission remains grounded
Labour promised to get Britain building. So far it has failed
Keir Starmer’s Kevin Keegan moment
What if the prime minister just quits?
Why British bond yields are higher than elsewhere
Labour shares only some of the blame. But it cannot ignore the consequences
Blighty newsletter: Nigel Farage makes a foolish mistake
Joel Budd, our social-affairs editor, on Reform UK’s latest intervention on immigration
The Orthodox Church is thriving in Britain, thanks to immigration
Romanian arrivals have provided the latest boost