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24 Sep 2026Restore Britain74 pages

Restoring Britain's Maritime Domain

Create UK Borders & Coastal Command — a civilian maritime force — so the Royal Navy is not the default answer to small boats.

Party pageOriginal PDF

The argument

The paper says Britain has no permanent civilian capability to watch, patrol and enforce the law at sea. Those jobs are split across departments, agencies, contracts and devolved bodies. It rejects using the Royal Navy as the standing answer: the Navy’s job is military deterrence, and it is already committed.

The proposed organisation is UK Borders & Coastal Command. A reformed Border Force would keep land and air borders and the land-side function at ports. A new Coastal Command would take the maritime domain: maritime borders, territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. Tasks include illegal immigration, smuggling, fisheries, sanctions, search and rescue, pollution, and protection of maritime infrastructure.

In peacetime the service would sit with the Home Office. In war, or a defined national-defence emergency, designated capability would pass to Royal Navy operational control. Personnel would hold the Office of Constable. High-risk boardings would be done by a Maritime Intervention Group, not the Navy. Harbour masters would become statutory partners in recording vessel movements. Policy stays with specialist departments; enforcement at sea moves to the Command.

What they propose

  1. 1

    Stand up UK Borders & Coastal Command as one border-security organisation with law-enforcement powers.

  2. 2

    Split it into a reformed Border Force (land and air) and Coastal Command (sea).

  3. 3

    One maritime operating picture, one command, and one multi-role force of vessels, aircraft, uncrewed systems and specialist teams.

  4. 4

    Build in stages: baseline assessment in six months, initial operating capability at about 18 months, full capability by year four.

  5. 5

    A planned establishment of about 5,000 paid personnel, plus the existing volunteer rescue network.

  6. 6

    Transfer existing maritime spending with the assets. Net extra running cost at full capability is estimated at £0.9–1.0 billion a year.

  7. 7

    Pair the force with the detention estate so intercepted arrivals can be held until removal. A wider Integrated Border Security and Management Strategy is promised later.

In the same file

  • Borders

    Detention estate

    Build a 30,000-place secure estate so every new illegal arrival can be detained until removal — capacity online within a year.

  • Borders

    Mass deportations

    Remove everyone the paper classes as living in Britain illegally, by statute first and then by a two-track returns machine.