Emmanuel Macron the French president is currently considering a fresh deal with the UK that would renew an agreement in 2021, where Britain contributed £54 million to double police on the beaches, as well as for drones and other surveillance equipment.
Newly elected UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has pledged with Emmanuel Macron to make the Channel migrant route “completely unviable”.
During a phone call on Friday
morning, the Prime Minister and French president committed to “deepening our
partnership” in order to “deter deadly journeys across the Channel that benefit
organised criminals”.
A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister stressed the importance for both nations to make the Channel route completely unviable for people traffickers.”
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, believes the proportion of migrants halted by the French before they reach the sea needs to rise from the current 42.5 per cent to 80 or 90 per cent if they are to break the people smugglers’ business model.
She and her officials have been in talks with Gerald Darmanin, her French counterpart, to agree an “ambitious package of measures” that was promised earlier this month by Liz Truss, the former prime minister, and Mr Macron aimed at “ending dangerous journeys across the Channel”.
'Entente cordiale'
As part of the new “entente cordiale”, Britain is expected to renew the deal. It could mean a doubling in the number of gendarmes and volunteers on the beaches to 400, funding more surveillance drones and beefing up the intelligence operation, with officers working alongside the French.
However, government sources are
pessimistic that the French will agree to joint land or sea patrols because of
sensitivities over sovereignty. Instead, British officers could be posted as
observers or advisers alongside French law enforcement.
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