Royal Navy to hand control of Channel small boat crossings back to Home Office

Rishi Sunak ends defence primacy after admitting the government’s response was ‘too fragmented’

Naval ships including HMS ‘Severn’ were in the response to Wednesday’s boat tragedy (PA)

The Royal Navy will hand responsibility for small boat crossings in the English Channel back to the Home Office next month after eight months of “primacy”.

Rishi Sunak announced the creation of a new Small Boats Operational Command as part of a raft of policies on Tuesday, admitting that the response had so far been “too fragmented”.

Officials have confirmed that the new unit will be led by the Border Force, and that Royal Navy primacy in the Channel will end on 31 January.