Chris Philp has revealed he was pelted with bottles and had a “curved machete” pulled on him during a visit to a French migrant camp.
The Shadow Home Secretary and Croydon South MP said his entourage was confronted by a man brandishing a knife near Calais.
His visit to the “new jungle” camp outside Dunkirk came after the number of small boat crossings since Labour came into power last year passed 50,000 this week.
Mr Philp travelled to Frace on Tuesday evening to “find out more about what’s happening on the ground”.
But on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Philp wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Just had a knife pulled on us in the new jungle camp by Dunkirk and then pelted with bottles while trying to speak to migrants. Will post (an) update later.”
Exiting the jungle 2 near Dunkirk where we had a machete pulled on us. Then got pelted with glass bottles in the video below. Footage from inside the camp to follow@Daily_Express @JournoZak pic.twitter.com/AqmKhAzy1l
— Chris Philp MP (@CPhilpOfficial) August 13, 2025
In an interview with Daily Express journalist Zak Garner-Purkis, who accompanied Mr Philp on his visit to mainland Europe, the former minister said: "I found it pretty shocking.
“You said behind me somebody had pulled out some sort of machete and we left pretty quickly."
Mr Garner-Purkis claims the man was "swinging it around in the air", adding: "It was clear he was doing it to send a message to the other people there.”
Mr Philp later told GB News: “There were only like five of us and I don’t know how many illegal migrants, probably one or two thousand in that camp. So it was a slightly unsettling experience, but everyone got out OK.”
He added: “People who pull knives, these people are on their way to the UK in dinghies and we were certainly seriously threatened just a few minutes ago…
It was a slightly unsettling experience
“No one in that camp is deterred. They are all determined to come to the UK and I saw lots of people around there carrying life jackets, and we know why they’re carrying life jackets because they’re planning to get on a small boat, or now a not-so-small boat.”
Labour has promised to "smash the gangs" that organise illicit crossings by spending £100 million to fund 300 National Crime Agency officers to tackle people-smugglers.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also agreed a “one-in, one-out” agreement with President Emmanuel Macron to send some arrivals back to France.
In exchange, Britain will take in asylum seekers in France who have not attempted to reach the Kent coast.
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said this week that she would reduce the number of illegal migrants to zero “quickly” if she entered Downing Street.
