UK Prime Minister to push France’s president Macron to stop migrant crossings

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is heading to Paris to push for France to "go further" on joint efforts to stop migrants crossing the English Channel.

Mr Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet at the Elysee Palace alongside senior ministers in the first Anglo-French summit for five years.

The UK wants to look at boosting police patrols on French beaches, from where many small boat crossings leave.

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

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.

It is thought the UK and French leaders will meet for around half an hour.

The British government believes money sent to France to step up patrols has been value for money and wants to go further.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said "we are looking at ways of enhancing the cooperation we already have with the French authorities", as well as ways to "really drive those numbers (of crossings) down".

Asked if the UK government was prepared to offer France more money to help with patrolling their borders, he said: "It will cost money, it has cost money and of course we'll be negotiating how we fund that joint work to prevent those migration attempts across the Channel."

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "We want to do more and we also believe France wants to stop these illegal gangs exploiting people.

"Certainly we are going in there with an ambition to go further on stopping the boats making these dangerous crossings."

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 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".