LABOUR’S Lord Glasman has said that drones of the type used by Ukraine in its conflict with Russia should be used to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.

He told GB News: “It’s not just about not allowing them in. Also about deportation, one thing we’ve learned from the Trump administration this year is that you can do things, that they’ve actually done this.

“Now we’ve got a situation now in the country where there is a huge consensus that stop the boats, deport the migrants. Deal with it.

“You can’t just splurge it around and move it about. But that’s what Shabana Mahmood is doing, which is working within the constraints.

“This is what I’m saying. They’ve got to get to grips with this. Now, I’ve long advocated for putting the Navy into the channel. I’ve just got back from Ukraine, where they’ve got the drones that could target each boat and get them to stop.

“So once again, this story, if we’re going to restore our politics, trust in the state, trust in politics itself, there’s got to be much more decisive action to stop the boats.

“This smashing the gangs thing, I was always sceptical about it. There are criminal actions and they need to be stopped. That could have been one minor aspect of the story.

“The major aspect of the story is we have the military power to stop the boats. And I’m just saying that. I’m arguing that we’ve got to actually get on with that.”

Asked if was proposing taking out boats with drones, he said: “I’m actually saying that they can target the boats and say, ‘return to France’.

“My actual argument is about France. We give them money, they don’t fulfil their obligations, and the logic of this is, if they cannot control their border, we’re going to have to.”

He said the French should be de-funded: “Yeah, completely. I mean, there’s got to be far greater understanding and articulation that France is undermining our national security. This is the big issue.”