HOME SECRETARY Sajid Javid has called on the Navy to help him handle a small number of refugee boats crossing the Dover Strait.
HMS Mersey, an offshore patrol vessel, is reportedly "available and ready” to be deployed.
The situation, involving 220 arrivals since November, was already being dealt with by civilian agencies, and human rights activists had warned Mr Javid not to involve the military.
Tehran retaliates with attacks on Israel, the Gulf Arab states and crude oil flows
As the government quietly upgrades the role of Britain’s special forces, their growing global footprint and near-total exemption from democratic oversight should alarm us all, says ROGER McKENZIE
From 35,000 troops in Talisman Sabre war games to HMS Spey provocations in the Taiwan Strait, Labour continues Tory militarisation — all while claiming to uphold ‘one China’ diplomatic agreements from 1972, reports KENNY COYLE


