LONDON

Britain’s relations with France might be further soured over illegal Channel crossings in the near future as the French president uses the problem as a “Brexit punishment strategy,” according to UK government sources.

The unnamed UK government sources were quoted as saying by The Times of London that Emmanuel Macron does not wish to use French taxpayers’ money to patrol the crossing before elections next April.

“Unfortunately 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,” the paper also quoted a Home Office source as saying.

Agreement

The accusations of doing little to prevent the migrants’ crossing to the UK from French coasts coincided with a joint statement by the British home secretary and French interior minister saying the two countries will accelerate commitments to prevent “100% of crossings.”

“Both the home secretary and interior minister agreed to strengthen operational cooperation further,” said the statement by Priti Patel and Gerald Darmanin.

It said: “More must be done to stop the dangerous crossings.”

They agreed “to accelerate the delivery of the commitments made in the joint agreement of July 2021 to deliver on their joint determination to prevent 100% of crossings and make this deadly route unviable.”

The two ministers talked about additional steps, additional technical solutions to tackle organized crime groups, and responding to the escalating issue, according to the statement.

“It was agreed that the joint technical working group will meet imminently with a view to permitting the use of new technology as rapidly as possible. The two ministers also committed to reinforcing intelligence sharing and police cooperation,” it said.

The statement was issued as Patel canceled a trip to Paris to meet Darmanin due to the “terror attack” that killed one person and injured another in Liverpool on Sunday.

Britain, meanwhile, released the first instalment of £54 million ($72.5 million) to France for extra police patrols and surveillance after French pledges.

Blame game

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week accused French authorities of failing to control its borders.

In return, France’s interior minister said the UK must stop using Paris as a “punching bag for their domestic politics.”

As the mutual accusations continued, Darmanin said migrants prefer to go to the UK because they could find work there, blaming the British work market.

He said: “Why do people go to Calais? It’s to go to Great Britain. And why do they want to go to Great Britain? It’s because the labor market largely works in Great Britain thanks to a large army or reserves – as Karl Marx said – of people in an irregular situation but who can work at a low cost, obviously.”

“We’re not taking lessons from the British. … they must stop using us as a punching bag for their domestic politics. We are neither their collaborators nor their assistants. The smugglers who organize networks and exploit women and children … are very often themselves in Britain.”

Speaking to CNews, he also said the British government needs to change its laws to discourage migrants from being attracted to the country.

“If the British tightened up their legislation – they have started doing so but not gone far enough – people would no longer be in Calais or Dunkirk,” he said.

"I will remind my British counterpart that the NGOs that prevent the police and the gendarmerie from working are largely British NGOs with British citizens who are on French soil," Darmanin also said.

"The smugglers, who organize networks and exploit women and children, are very often based in Britain."

Never-ending problem

The issue of crossings of irregular migrants from France to the UK has always been a hot topic between the two countries, but the effect and reaction to it have mounted since Brexit.

Local media, especially some right-wing tabloids and papers, have reacted to the latest crossings as a record estimated number of 1,185 people crossed the Channel by boat last week on a single day.