Small boats: France to get more money, says James Cleverly

France will get more money to stop small boats crossing the Channel, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said ahead of an Anglo-French Summit.

Mr Cleverly has travelled to Paris with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

Small boat crossings will be on the agenda as well as the conflict in Ukraine.

A deal on returning migrants arriving in the UK to France is not expected.

However, asked if the UK was planning to offer France more money to help police French beaches – from where most small boats leave – Mr Cleverly said: “It will cost money, it has cost money.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said the two countries would be discussing how to fund joint efforts but wouldn’t speculate on the outcome of those talks.

The Times newspaper has reported that the UK will give France more than £200m over three years.

Last year, the UK agreed to pay France £63m a year to increase surveillance of French beaches.

The British government believes money sent to France to step up patrols has been well-spent and wants to go further.

But both London and Paris acknowledge there will not be an agreement where France takes back migrants who have reached the UK.

The French government is thought to prefer a deal between the UK and the European Union, something of a frustration to British diplomats who would like to see quicker action.

“We want a EU-UK returns agreement and will push that forward,” the prime minister’s spokesman said.

“But it is equally important that there is work on the ground right now to stop the crossings we are seeing even in these winter months.”

A French government source said: “At this stage, and due to Brexit, there is no readmission agreement between France and the United Kingdom.”

Labour said the absence of a new agreement to return migrants to France was a “total failure”.

It is thought that Mr Sunak and Mr Macron will meet for around half an hour.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Environment Secretary Therese Coffey are also joining the prime minister on the trip.

Earlier this week Mr Sunak unveiled his plans to deter people from making the crossing.

Under the plans, anyone found to have entered the country illegally would not only be removed from the UK within 28 days, but also be blocked from returning or claiming British citizenship in future.

Those arriving on the UK’s beaches would either be returned to their home country, or another “safe third country” like Rwanda.

The British government feels the relationship with their opposite numbers in Paris on this issue has improved significantly in the last couple of years.

But Downing Street’s desire “to make the small boat route across the Channel unviable” is a bold ambition – especially given that the numbers proving it to be the opposite have continued to rocket.

More than 45,000 people entered the UK via Channel crossings last year, up from about 300 in 2018.

So far this year, around 3,000 people have arrived on small boats, but the two governments claim their joint work has stopped a similar number from embarking on the journey.

An announcement on deepening co-operation on the issue is expected, rather than a big breakthrough.

The joint work the two countries do on this issue remains politically sensitive, as our Europe editor Katya Adler writes here.

Mr Sunak said: “From tackling the scourge of illegal migration to driving investment in one another’s economies, the work we do together improves the lives of each and every person in our countries.

“Beyond that, the UK and France also have a privileged role as defenders of European and global security.”

Officials point out that both the UK and France are nuclear powers, members of the G7, G20 and the Nato defence alliance and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Brexit has been something of a stone in the shoe of the relationship between the UK and France in recent years.

But diplomats believe the deal between the UK and the European Union on Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland creates a much better atmosphere between the two countries.

And both London and Paris are keen to emphasise their closeness on so many other issues, not least Ukraine.

The prime minister and the president will host a news conference on Friday afternoon and issue a joint statement.

It is a month of particularly intense activity between the two countries – as King Charles and the Queen Consort will be in France in a few weeks.

Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, which put an end to centuries of rivalry between the two countries.