UK will give France nearly half a billion pounds in bid to solve small boats crisis

Rishi Sunak has agreed to give nearly half a billion pounds to France in a bid to tackle illegal immigration, it was announced today, as Emmanuel Macron hailed a “new beginning” in Anglo-Franco relations.

The money, which London will give to Paris over a three-year period, will fund hundreds of extra French police officers to patrol beaches to stop small boats leaving French shores.

The package will also fund a detention centre in northern France to cope with the level of people being trafficked across the Channel.

The UK’s contribution towards this package will be €141 million in 2023-24, €191 million in 2024-25 and €209 million in 2025-6. The French will contribute significantly more funding, the government said.

An agreement with France designed to help prevent crossings was revised in November to be worth around £63 million in 2022/23, £8 million more than the previous year.

Mr Macron said the sums of money involved were “commensurate” with the current need.

At a joint press conference, Mr Macron said that working together on small boats the UK and France had “dismantled” 55 organised crime networks.