Passports for UK Coastal trip.

[Momac]

We were stopped by a huge border force boat. It was a bit scary. They obviously heat scanned the boat to check numbers onboard. They would not speak on the radio and they came along side and asked questions by shouting to us. There were about 6 or so questions and it all took a few minutes. No real issue but just scary. Their attitude was ok but could have been better

Did they ask for passports ?

 

[finestgreen]

MOD Police have Absolutly no authority over the general public unless you are on MOD land. They sometimes forget this

This isn't true.

 

[Momac]

MOD Police have Absolutly no authority over the general public unless you are on MOD land. They sometimes forget this

So for example they can only arrest you for shoplifting if the shop is on MOD property.

But they do have authority outside of MOD establishments regarding MOD related matters.

 

[finestgreen]

So for example they can only arrest you for shoplifting if the shop is on MOD property.

This also is not true. They have full constabulary powers if they reasonably suspect someone has committed, is in the course of committing or being about to commit an offence; or if needed to save life or prevent injury.

Ministry of Defence Police: jurisdiction

 

[Bristolfashion]

We were approached by Border Force in the Thames - one delightful, chatty woman and a bunch of unsmiling, partly shaven men clutching guns. After a chat that was more "how are your holidays" than "assume the position", they were on their way, having kept our borders safe for another day.

 

[SC35]

I would be interested to hear from people who have been stopped at sea in UK waters on a UK coastal trip by a border force vessel and how it went. Did they demand to see identification or did they just ask the people on board a few questions such as the post above?

We were in a convoy coming from Belgium to the UK ... one RIB got stopped.
No demands for any kind of ID: just a chat for a few minutes to confirm circumstances.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Did they ask for passports ?

No and we did not have them. We were on one of those boats with flappy things and ropes they call sheets. It was a passage from The Hamble to the River Orwell over 3 days. I think because we were in UK waters they could not have expected us to have them and there is no requirement in UK law in my opinion. It certainly gave us the willies when this monster vessel about 0.5 miles away turned in our direction all engines full chat and was obviously heading for us cos nowt else was out where we were

 

[Bigplumbs]

So for example they can only arrest you for shoplifting if the shop is on MOD property.

But they do have authority outside of MOD establishments regarding MOD related matters.
View attachment 182142View attachment 182142

You are copy and pasting again arnt you. I never read anything people copy and paste.

 

[Bigplumbs]

This also is not true. They have full constabulary powers if they reasonably suspect someone has committed, is in the course of committing or being about to commit an offence; or if needed to save life or prevent injury.

Ministry of Defence Police: jurisdiction

That is not what a Regular senior Plod told me

 

[Bigplumbs]

We in a convoy coming from Belgium to the UK ... one RIB got stopped.
No demands for any kind of ID: just a chat for a few minutes to confirm circumstances.

That is kind of what happened to us

 

[john_morris_uk]

That is not what a Regular senior Plod told me

Regular police don’t always know all the laws and regulations perfectly. On this occasion your senior police officer was wrong. MOD police most certainly do have authority outside MOD land.

 

[st599]

That is not what a Regular senior Plod told me

The MOD police are in charge of on the water policing within the limits of the RN dockyard ports. Those limits are quite large, for Portsmouth it's the entire harbour, plus the waters from Osborne to Hayling island and down to Seaview. I'm assuming the Plymouth patch is a similar size.

 

[john_morris_uk]

The MOD police are in charge of on the water policing within the limits of the RN dockyard ports. Those limits are quite large, for Portsmouth it's the entire harbour, plus the waters from Osborne to Hayling island and down to Seaview. I'm assuming the Plymouth patch is a similar size.

All true, but they have powers beyond those limits as well.

 

[dunedin]

Not quite right. If you want to test it - pop your sib in the water and head for Faslane shouting you’ve no authority until I’m on MoD land.

Can he let us know when trying this please. Fun to watch.
MOD plod are bored stupid up here with not much to do. So they would be "yippee, go on, make my day!"

 

[Bristolfashion]

You are copy and pasting again arnt you. I never read anything people copy and paste.

Very wise. It avoids all those inconvenient truths!

 

[mil1194]

Can he let us know when trying this please. Fun to watch.
MOD plod are bored stupid up here with not much to do. So they would be "yippee, go on, make my day!"

There’s bound to be a YouTube video of it. That would definitely get some views.

 

[Sandy]

MOD Police have Absolutly no authority over the general public unless you are on MOD land. They sometimes forget this

You may want to fact check that.

 

[john_morris_uk]

You may want to fact check that.

Don’t confuse the issue with facts.

 

[ylop]

We were approached by Border Force in the Thames - one delightful, chatty woman and a bunch of unsmiling, partly shaven men clutching guns. After a chat that was more "how are your holidays" than "assume the position", they were on their way, having kept our borders safe for another day.

Are you sure they were BF? Not normally armed. Anti terror police do operate on the Thames, something to do with that funny building with the big clock and a long memory of events in 1605!

That is not what a Regular senior Plod told me

So you assumed regular cops were always right and mod plod were sometimes mistaken but didn’t consider if the opposite could also be true? Their jurisdiction is not determined by geography but rather by subject matter, but they can also unilaterally decide a “civi” matter is so urgent and serious that they can and must intervene.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Are you sure they were BF? Not normally armed. Anti terror police do operate on the Thames, something to do with that funny building with the big clock and a long memory of events in 1605!

Now you mention it, I don't recall them identifying themselves - they certainly did have guns!