Labour hands France another £2million a week to police the Channel – despite Paris refusing to accept targets to stop the boats
Britain is to pay millions more to France to police the Channel – despite the French refusing to accept targets to stop the boats.
Shabana Mahmood has signed off a £16.2 million cheque for a two-month extension to the current deal with Paris, which subsidises French beach patrols.
But the French have flatly refused the Home Secretary’s demand to link payments to success in stopping the boats.
Ms Mahmood is said to be frustrated by a fall in the interception rate, which has seen the French stop fewer than a third of those trying to cross illegally this year. More than 4,400 have already made the crossing since the start of the year, despite poor weather.
She demanded that future payments from the British taxpayer be linked to results. But the French refused, claiming it could endanger life at sea.
With the current deal due to expire on Tuesday night – and the prospect of a free-for-all in the Channel – Ms Mahmood agreed to extend the deal and carry on talking.
The Home Secretary vowed she would do ‘whatever it takes to restore order and control at our borders’.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Labour was allowing Britain to be ripped off by the French.
‘France is stopping fewer small boat illegal immigrants than ever,’ he said. ‘The bottom line is there should not be any illegal immigrants attempting to seek asylum in the UK having left France in the first place – because France is a safe country.
‘Labour don’t have the backbone to get a deal over the line. They are now going to pay £2 million a week for continued failure. We shouldn’t pay the French a penny until they agree to substantially increase their prevention rate and start intercepting at sea by force – as they promised last summer.
‘Keir Starmer has now presided over the most Channel crossings of any Prime Minister – up 45 per cent since the election. His absurd claim to ‘smash the gangs’ lies in tatters.’
[…]
The current round of negotiations to sign a new £650 million deal were deadlocked because France rejected the payment-by-results plan.
In turn, the British have rejected French requests to pay the salaries of staff at a new migrant detention centre in northern France, while also funding a French police barracks.
A senior Interior Ministry source on Tuesday told the Daily Mail that the UK would have to pay more to get an enhanced deal.
The Daily Mail: continue reading
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