The former commander of the Falklands land campaign has sparked outrage after saying migrant boats crossing the English Channel should be targeted with machine-gun fire.
“I would shoot them,” Major-General Julian Thompson said in a documentary examining mass immigration to Britain.
The Home Office responded by warning that anyone who took the law into their own hands could face “serious criminal consequences”. The Conservative Party also said that “opening fire on migrant boats would be completely wrong”.
Maj Gen Thompson, 92, who commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the 1982 conflict, was discussing the thousands of migrants arriving on UK shores. “We could stop them tomorrow if we really had the guts. I’d shoot them, sorry, but I would,” he said.
When contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Maj Gen Thompson clarified that he meant the gunfire should be directed at the boats rather than the people aboard them.
Asked whether he was concerned about a backlash, Maj Gen Thompson said: “As long as they don’t come around here, I don’t mind what they do.
“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.”
Major-General Julian Thompson has provoked widespread condemnation after saying migrant boats crossing the Channel should be machine-gunned
The Home Office said on Friday night that anyone taking the law into their own hands could face “serious criminal consequences”, while the Conservatives said that “opening fire on migrant boats would be completely wrong”. Pictured: An inflatable dinghy carrying migrants heads towards England on August 6, 2024
Maj Gen Thompson pictured with the then Prince Charles after leading the Falklands land operation in 1982
Maj Gen Thompson made the comments to journalist Steven Edginton for a documentary being released on Mr Edginton’s YouTube channel this weekend.
More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, a figure 40 per cent lower than during the same period in 2025.
Even so, the number of people travelling on each vessel has risen, with an average of 67 migrants crammed aboard every boat.
Maj Gen Thompson joined the Royal Marines in 1952 and served for 34 years. After retiring, he wrote numerous books on military history.
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He commanded the ground forces during Operation Sutton, the amphibious assault at San Carlos Water in May 1982. The landings secured a beachhead on East Falkland despite intense Argentine air attacks.
Before the battle began, he appeared aboard HMS Fearless carrying the written order authorising the operation. He then told his troops: “Gentlemen, here we go.”
During the YouTube interview, Maj Gen Thompson 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”.
He also claimed that Britain was “just going downhill”, adding: “I’m glad I won’t see it, I’ll be dead.
“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.”
Baroness Thatcher shaking hands with Major General Thompson at the opening of the Imperial War Museum Exhibition on the Falklands War in 2007
Major General Thompson led the land operation to liberate the Falklands. Pictured: Survivors of the RFA Sir Galahad air attack coming ashore in life rafts at San Carlos Bay, as the supply ship blazes in the background
Maj Gen Thompson aboard the Canberra as she returned from the Falklands and sailed into Southampton
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.
‘If the French won’t stop the boats near the shore then the British Government should deport every illegal immigrant within a week of arrival.
‘This requires us to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Conservative borders plan does, but the Labour Government is too weak to do.
‘Instead of being deported on arrival, illegal immigrants get put up in hotels and flats. This has to end.’
A Home Office spokesman said last night: ‘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.’
