New deal will see riot police sent to French beaches
It is part of efforts to crack down on people smuggling
Riot police will be sent on to French beaches to stop migrants crossing the Channel under a fresh multimillion-pound deal with the UK.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood's signed the £662 million three-year agreement.
The Home Office said the number of officers sent to curb attempted journeys from northern France to Britain will also rise by about 42% when the agreement comes into force in the summer.
Part of the funding will be conditional on cutting the numbers of arrivals for the first time since the start of the migrant crisis, the UK Government said.
Under the deal, which will be in place until March 2029, the UK will hand over £501 million to cover five police units and enforcement activity on French beaches – with an extra £160 million only paid if new tactics to curb Channel crossings succeed.
If efforts fail, the additional funding will stop after a year, the Home Office said.
Drone and camera surveillance, as well as helicopter patrols, will be stepped up – with the number of police, intelligence and military officers deployed rising from 750 to nearly 1,100 as part of the deal due to come into force in the summer, typically the busiest time for Channel crossings.
The French will also double down on fresh tactics to tackle so-called taxi boats – where people smugglers try to avoid detection by sending one person sailing a dinghy along the coast alone to beaches where migrants scramble aboard in the water.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said work between the UK and France had “already stopped tens of thousands of crossings” and “this historic agreement means we can go further: ramping up intelligence, surveillance and boots on the ground to protect Britain’s borders”.
Ms Mahmood added: “This landmark deal will stop illegal migrants making the perilous journey and put people smugglers behind bars.”
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The Government’s deal hands over half a billion pounds of our money with no conditions at all.
“France only prevented a third of embarkations last year and even let those illegal immigrants go to try again. France shouldn’t get a single penny unless they stop the vast majority of the boats.”
Imran Hussain, from the Refugee Council, said: “By focusing on policing the Channel, the Government is treating the symptom not the cause. Policing alone will not prevent desperate people from turning to dangerous small boats in the first place.”
Refugee charity Care4Calais said Anglo-French beach deals make crossings more dangerous and lead to more deaths in the Channel.