“The Royal Navy is prohibited from accepting illegal orders and is not permitted to use lethal force against unarmed civilians.” — Luke Pollard. Our verdict: Unverified.
Luke Pollard made the claim in comments reported by The News, in an article about Nigel Farage defending a 'lethal force' policy for English Channel migrants, dated 13 October 2026.
Our verdict
Unverified
We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute this claim. Luke Pollard's words are on the record, but the legal rules behind them are not set out in any document we could find.
Know something that settles it? Send us evidenceWhat we found
The claim has two parts: that the Royal Navy may not accept illegal orders, and that it may not use lethal force against unarmed civilians. A news report on The News carries Luke Pollard's statement making both points, so we know he said them. But a Ministry of Defence manual on non-criminal conduct offences only says that disobeying lawful commands is an offence. It does not spell out a rule against obeying illegal orders, and it says nothing about lethal force against unarmed civilians. No other document we found sets out the exact legal position either. Because the statements are documented but the law behind them is not, we cannot confirm or refute the claim.
The evidence
1 of 2 sources support the claim; none contradict it.
- Background
The article reports Luke Pollard saying the Royal Navy is not allowed to accept an illegal order and does not shoot unarmed civilians. [1]
- Supports the claim
A Ministry of Defence manual on non-criminal conduct offences defines disobeying 'lawful' commands as an offence, which suggests commands must be lawful to be binding, but it does not directly state a ban on obeying illegal orders. [2]
What we could not confirm
- Whether there is a specific legal rule prohibiting the Royal Navy from accepting illegal orders, and what it says.
- Whether there is an official rule of engagement or law that prohibits lethal force against unarmed civilians.
- Whether the rules have changed since the documents we found were published.
How we checked
We looked at the news report carrying the claim and at a Ministry of Defence manual on military conduct offences. We searched for official rules of engagement or legal texts that directly address illegal orders or lethal force against unarmed civilians, but found none. If you have documents that settle this question, please send them to us. We reviewed 2 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]www.thenews.com.pk · Nigel Farage defends ‘lethal force’ policy for English Channel migrants amid backlash
- [2]assets.publishing.service.gov.uk · Non-criminal conduct (disciplinary) offences (manual of service law) · May 10, 2017
- [3]Photo: ©House of Commons / photography by Roger Harris / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Help us check this claim
We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute this claim. If you know of an official record, dataset, transcript or report that settles it, send us the link. We review every submission and update this fact check when the evidence changes the picture.
Measured Take updates fact checks when new evidence emerges. Corrections are noted on the page.
All fact checks