Spectator owner’s son calls for mine-laden ‘floating wall’ to stop Channel crossings | Immigration and asylum

Paul Marshall, son of the Spectator’s owner, said Britain should build a mine-laden “floating wall” to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.

Winston Marshall, a former member of the Mumford & Sons group who has established himself as a right-wing online phenomenon, said the idea should be investigated “as ridiculous as it sounds” because previous attempts to stop the crossings had failed.

Marshall, who launched his own YouTube show earlier this year promising to tackle topics “the corporate media won’t touch”, floated the idea of ​​a new £660m deal to tackle transit between Britain and France in a discussion on Fox News, which he said made him “pretty angry”.

“It’s a strange idea, but I actually think it’s feasible,” he said. “We need to build a giant wall across the canal, this is not talked about much.

“I guess if you consider we spent £1bn over six years trying to deter small boat crossings… We could build a floating wall with miners across the channel.

“Now, this may seem ridiculous, even absurd, but if the canal stops boat passage…”

The Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the canal, is the world’s busiest shipping lane.

Marshall suggested there should be “perhaps mined sections” [and] sections that are open to permit proper operation”.

Ministers from the previous Conservative government tried a ‘blockade’ tactic. However, this envisaged the passages being “physically blocked” by rigid-hulled inflatable boats.

Marshall’s father, Paul, is an increasingly influential hedge fund founder and media mogul who co-owns Spectator magazine and GB News.

Marshall’s appearance on Fox News is the latest sign of a growing transatlantic network of right-wing media and commentators who often focus on the same talking points.

It follows the launch of GB News’ US show, which regularly features figures close to Donald Trump, as well as Liz Truss’s YouTube show, which includes links to right-wing US platforms. Elon Musk also targeted England in his posts on X.

During an appearance on Fox News, Marshall made a series of claims about crossing immigrants, describing them as “military-aged men.”

He claimed: “These are not refugees. They are not asylum seekers. They are economic migrants. And they are not fleeing a war-torn country. There are many reasons to flee France, don’t get me wrong, but war is not one of them.”

He claimed that the Royal Navy had only four “seaworthy” assets other than its nuclear submarines. He also suggested that England was a “tinsterbox”.

“It’s actually all piling up right now and it’s very fragile,” he said. “I’m afraid the country will explode at the slightest thing.”