Priti Patel set to have crisis meeting with France to crackdown on migrants crossing the Channel
France ‘is letting migrants cross Channel in revenge for Brexit’ as Priti Patel braces for showdown with Paris counterpart this week over record numbers coming to the UK
Home Secretary will ask France to speed up plans to intercept every migrantPriti Patel will meet French interior minister to find a ‘shared solution’ to crisisThis comes after a record of 1,185 migrants crossed the Channel last weekThree migrants also died in separate incidents trying to cross the Channel
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Ministers are accusing France of letting migrants cross the Channel in revenge for Brexit as Priti Patel braces for showdown talks with her Paris counterpart this week.
The Home Secretary will meet Gerald Darmanin in the coming days after a record 1,185 migrants arrived on Thursday – smashing the previous daily high of 853 set just eight days earlier.
However, the government fears that there will be no tougher action from Emmanuel Macron and the situation could even get ‘worse’ as he focuses on the looming presidential elections.
There are claims that the lack of enforcement on the French coast – which saw just 99 migrants intercepted on Thursday out of 1,284 who tried to reach the UK – is part of a ‘Brexit punishment strategy’ and has become linked to rows over fishing and Northern Ireland.
Priti Patel is set to have crisis meetings with France this week in a bid to speed up plans to intercept every migrant that crosses the Channel
The total to have reached British shores since the start of the year stands at more than 23,500 – nearly three times the 8,400 in the whole of 2020.
But one government source told the Times that ministers are bleak about the prospects of tougher action by France.
‘They don’t think the French are going to give them anything at all,’ the source said.
‘With the elections coming up they think it will only get worse. They think it’s part of Macron’s Brexit punishment strategy.’
A Home Office source added: ‘We’re just part of a much bigger issue with the election, Northern Ireland and fishing. They don’t want to be using French taxpayers’ money ahead of the election.’
Last week Boris Johnson urged President Emmanuel Macron to ‘close off the door’ to migrants entering French territory and attempting perilous Channel crossings.
This month, the Home Office sent the first instalments of a £54million deal with France to fund beach patrols – but migrant numbers have since soared.
Ms Patel stressed that the migrant crisis was a ‘shared problem’ with France, but Mr Macron’s government is understood to oppose the introduction of her ‘pushback’ tactic to intercept small boats and direct them back to the French coast.
Ms Patel said: ‘Last week showed we must do more. I want to go further and faster, and that’s why I will be holding talks with Gerald Darmanin this week.’
Border Force has been resisting requests to use the ‘pushback’ strategy, citing objections such as weather and size of boats being intercepted.
The PCS union representing border guards said last night it was poised to seek a judicial review into pushback tactics.
Spokesman Kevin Mills said some members had ‘concerns about safety and if it is legal’, adding: ‘If someone dies, it won’t be Priti Patel taking the body out of the water.’ It came as it emerged the outgoing head of Border Force, Paul Lincoln, described ‘bloody borders’ as ‘a pain in the bloody a***’ during a leaving speech.
However, Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: ‘Criminal gangs have been running rings around the French authorities for too long. It’s important to hear France’s plan to turn the tables on the people traffickers, bring an end to the migrant crisis and prevent further loss of life in the Channel.’
Former security minister Sir John Hayes urged the Government to press on with pushback and ‘process all asylum applications offshore’. He said this had a ‘dramatic effect’ when introduced by Australia’s controversial Operation Sovereign Borders in 2013.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen added: ‘If they knew they were going to be turned around immediately and sent back to France, it would take a week and it would stop.’
Dan O’Mahoney, the Home Office’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said: ‘Migrants are putting their lives at risk and it is vital we do everything we can to prevent them and break the business model of the criminal gangs exploiting people.’
Border officers patrolling on jet skis off the coast of Kent earlier this month
Border Force has been seen off Dover practicing the pushback tactics, involving three jet skis surrounding a migrant boat and directing it back to France.
According to guidance, the tactic can only be used in the Channel sections which are 1.8 miles wide and a commander can only agree to the procedure if it is confirmed that a French navy or rescue boat can escort the boat back.
Other safety rules must also be met including weather, sea conditions, number of migrants and size of the boat.
In Australia and Greece, when similar tactics were used, migrants threatened to jump overboard in a bid to force authorities to rescue them.
Boris Johnson has urged France to step up efforts to prevent migrants from sailing across the English Channel to reach the UK
Mr Johnson has hit out at Emmanuel Macron (pictured) for not policing French beaches, arguing it is difficult for UK Border Force to turn migrants back safely at sea
