Former NCA chief says small boats 'filled with young, military aged men' should 'scare the life' out of the British public

By DAVID SHIPLEY and RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:01, 31 July 2026 | Updated: 00:01, 31 July 2026 The small boats crisis should 'scare the life out of people', a former police chief said today – as it emerged Iran may be using the route to move operatives into the UK.  Roy McComb, who served as deputy director of the National Crime Agency (NCA) from 2014 to 2019, described the crossings as a significant national security threat.  He said 'very liberal attitudes' that treated small boat migration as a humanitarian issue were hindering Government action to stop it.  And he insisted the predominantly young, male demographic of small boat migrants increased the risk they could include criminals, foreign agents or terrorists. 'The small boats threat is there for everybody to see - they're filled with young, military age men,' Mr McComb told the Daily Mail. 'This should scare the life out of any reasonable person. It's being treated by the authorities as a humanitarian crisis and it's not.  'These people are being smuggled in and then they are effectively being facilitated by the very liberal attitudes we have to wander around the countryside.  'Even if they're stopped they can say ''I'm an asylum seeker'' and be entitled to protection'. His intervention follows reports that the feared Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently proscribed in Britain, is using the small boat route to move covert agents into the UK.  A mega-dinghy that was launched from northern France on July 23. The migrants were picked up in the Channel by Border Force and taken to the UK  The IRGC was founded by acolytes of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to defend the Islamic Republic of Iran's core values. Pictured is one of its fighters in 2024   People smugglers were reported as saying that Tehran was involved in facilitating the passage of migrants from Calais to the UK in return for a future 'favour' once they had arrived.  Meanwhile, an Iranian official was quoted as claiming that 'revolutionary' operatives had been stationed in London in connection with the IRGC's Unit 700 – the logistics branch of the Quds Force, the IRGC's covert foreign operations division. Mr McComb, who was head of organised crime for the Police Service of Northern Ireland before joining the NCA, said it made sense that Iran would seek to infiltrate operatives through illegal routes and 'seek to use them later'.  'The NCA and security services have been very clear that we have threat convergence, with organised crime groups delivering young, military age personnel from countries that are routinely hostile to the UK,' he said.  'The IRGC Unit 700 linkage shows that these people aren't just posing as a casual threat.'  Last year, three Iranian men who arrived in the country illegally were charged with spying for Iran. Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori are alleged to have targeted journalists working for the London-based independent broadcaster Iran International. Sepahvand has been accused of planning to commit 'serious violence against a person in the UK', while Manesh and Noori are accused of spying 'with the intention that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the UK, would be committed by others'. They all deny the charges and will go on trial at Woolwich Crown Court in October.  Also warning of the threat of Tehran-backed violence in the UK was George Simm, former Regimental Sergeant Major of 22 SAS from 1992 to 1994. He said that 'we don't have to guess about whether the IRGC intend to mount attacks in the UK, their officials have just told us'.  He believes IRGC-linked individuals are firmly 'in the foothills' of their preparations and could stage attacks that pose 'a massive threat to life'.  Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Mr Simm described a theoretical scenario in which IRGC terrorists launched 'three major incidents - imagine 7/7-style attacks, but with firearms, across three major cities, involving large groups of armed terrorists supported by an accompanying rent-a-mob'. He predicts the SAS would be called upon in such a scenario and urged the Government to 'enhance the UK's already effective intelligence-gathering capabilities with robust contingency planning and deterrence operations where necessary'. An analyst specialising in Iranian external operations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, sounded a note of caution about the threat posed by Tehran. He said it was 'highly likely' that Iranian intelligence services had identified small boat crossings as 'a vulnerability worth exploiting'. But he added that 'nothing we have seen in the way they operate, recruit and handle agents suggests that, even if infiltrations have been successful, those placed in the UK have proved effective or demonstrated long-term potential'. Almost 900 migrants have crossed to the UK from France since Andy Burnham took over No10 last Monday, including one 'mega dinghy' carrying 165 people on Thursday. The Prime Minister admitted yesterday that there is 'more to do' but claimed the Government's plan to tackle migrant crossings is working. Speaking to reporters on a visit to Derby, the Prime Minister said: 'The Home Secretary [Shabana Mahmood] has brought forward a very rigorous plan in relation to this, and let's remember, the numbers can fluctuate but overall boat crossings are down, down quite significantly year on year. So that does suggest that the plan is working.' Your browser does not support iframes. Asked if he recognised that the small boats may represent a 'threat to national security,' Mr Burnham said he wanted 'all relevant and necessary checks' to be completed. He said: 'There have to be rigorous checks so that people are not put through into a situation where they are out without the relevant safeguards, and absolutely, I can give you a commitment that that is the clear instruction that I am giving. That all relevant and necessary checks must be done. 'It's about getting a grip on the entire situation. I raised this repeatedly through the Makerfield by-election. The public wants to see control being exerted, and while we've made progress, there is more to do, and I recognise that completely. 'But the trend is down, and the number of people being removed is up, so the figures are pointing in a better direction. But there is much more to do.' Government data shows 77,183 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel during Sir Keir Starmer's premiership from Labour's election victory in July 2024. According to recent Home Office figures, 13,007 arrivals have been recorded this year. This is 45 per cent lower than the number recorded by this time last year and down 18 per cent on the same period in 2024. The Ministry of Defence said: 'The first duty of government is national security and there are stringent security checks for small boat arrivals. 'Those identified as a threat will be detained immediately and we will do everything in our power to remove them at the earliest opportunity. 'While it is a longstanding policy of successive Governments to not comment on UK Special Forces, we are immensely proud of all our Armed Forces and their extraordinary contribution to keeping the UK safe at home and abroad.' The Home Office said: 'We are bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12%. 'The Home Secretary has signed a landmark new deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars. This builds on joint work that has stopped over 46,000 attempted crossings since the election. 'We have removed or deported almost 70,000 people who were here illegally – an increase of 41% – and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country.'