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Downing Street has said the small boats situation in the English Channel is “deteriorating”, ahead of a key UK-France summit next month on border security.<\/p>\n
Meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to “work closely” to tackle crossings, a No 10 spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
They added that both leaders agreed migration should be a key focus of their meetings during Macron’s state visit from 8 July to 10 July<\/a>. <\/p>\n Official figures show more than 1,500 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats last week, pushing the total for the year to just over 16,000 – 42% higher than at the same point last year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The leaders agreed “that their teams should pursue high-ambition outcomes that deliver for the British and French people,” the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n “Migration should be a key focus given the deteriorating situation in the Channel, they confirmed,” the spokesperson added. <\/p>\n Despite repeated questions from journalists, the prime minister’s spokesman declined to say what Sir Keir and Macron meant by the situation “deteriorating”.<\/p>\n Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said “the Channel crisis is spiralling out of control” under Sir Keir’s watch. <\/p>\n “The gangs are laughing, the boats keep coming, and Labour’s response is to form another taskforce and hold a summit. It’s weak and it’s embarrassing,” he added.<\/p>\n Ministers have been pushing for the French government to implement new rules to make it easier to intercept boats. <\/p>\n In 2023, the previous Conservative government struck<\/a> a deal to give France almost \u00a3500m over three years to go towards extra officers to help stop migrants making the journey.<\/p>\n Official figures show<\/a> French authorities have intercepted fewer than 58% of recorded boat crossings this year. <\/p>\n In March, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the French government was reviewing its policies to tighten up policing around small boats, and recent days have seen a more aggressive posture from French police. <\/p>\n It comes as PA Media reported French officers used tear gas and batons to disperse migrants attempting to board dinghies in near Gravelines, near Calais.<\/p>\n Pictures show men, women, and children running through a cloud of smoke from sand dunes to the sea, where they waited nearly an hour before boarding the small boat.<\/p>\n Well over 50 migrants made it aboard the small black dinghy before it finally took off into the Channel, PA said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Labour campaigned on a promise to “smash the criminal boat gangs” bringing migrants to the UK, and the Sir Keir has made tackling illegal immigration and “restoring order” to the asylum system a priority for the government.<\/p>\n After coming to government, Labour immediately scrapped the Conservative government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, redirecting funds to enhanced border security initiatives.<\/a><\/p>\n But Channel crossings have hit 40,000 since Labour took office in July 2024 – a 21% increase on the same period the year before.<\/p>\n Over the same period, 940 boats have been intercepted – stopping nearly 28,000 migrants from reaching the UK. <\/p>\n The government has pointed to good weather and the willingness of people smugglers to cram more people onto small boats<\/a> as factors driving the spike in migration crossings. <\/p>\n It has prompted the Conservatives to accuse ministers of “blaming the weather” for the rise in numbers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n