French riot police in early morning clash with migrants in coastal town
Pictures and footage captured by the PA news agency shows a group throwing rocks from afar in the direction of the officers early on Friday, while small fires are alight in the road near a park in Gravelines.
The scene between the men – two seen by PA wearing life jackets – and the Gendarmerie and Police Nationale officers, who were equipped with shields, helmets and tear gas, lasted for about 20 minutes at around 5.30am.
It came after migrants were filmed running into the water and boarding a dinghy at Gravelines beach on Thursday morning.
More than 22,500 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.
Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a one in, one out migrant returns deal in a bid to crack down on the crossings and the people smuggling gangs who operate them.
Sir Keir met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday where he also praised Berlin's plans to strengthen laws to disrupt small boat crossings by the end of the year.
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Spectator
7 minutes ago
- Spectator
Germany has become a useful ally for Britain
Yesterday the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited London for the first time since he took office in May. He and the prime minister have met on a number of occasions, and although the two lawyers are different characters – Sir Keir Starmer, the stiff, soi disant progressive human rights barrister; Merz, the abrasive, hard-nosed corporate counsel – they have forged a functional relationship. But this was Merz on Starmer's home ground. The government has put a great deal of effort into bespoke bilateral relationships. Defence secretary John Healey and the German defence minister Boris Pistorius signed the Trinity House Agreement last October, and there have also been various kinds of arrangements put in place with Estonia, Ukraine, Norway, Qatar and France, as well as the outline of a trade agreement with the United States. This week, Starmer built on the Trinity House Agreement to agree to a treaty with Germany on friendship and bilateral cooperation; this has been dubbed, as if Downing Street were sweeping a Monopoly board, the 'Kensington Treaty'. It is the first bilateral treaty the UK and Germany have concluded since the second world war, and it covers a broad range of policy areas: diplomacy, security and development, defence cooperation, internal security, justice and migration, economic growth, resilience and competitiveness, open and resilient societies, and climate, energy, nature, environment and agriculture. Given the current geopolitical situation, the defence provisions have received particular attention, and it is worth trying to unpick the details. I've been to enough international assemblies to recognise the florid, padded language of diplomacy, but it is fair to say that the Kensington Treaty would have benefited from a good but firm editor. It adds very little to the sum of human knowledge or happiness to declare that the UK and Germany are 'inspired by a common will to address the momentous new challenges to Euro-Atlantic security' or that they are 'reaffirming their ironclad commitment to the Transatlantic Alliance as the bedrock of their security, based on shared values'. Peeling away the ambient verbiage, however, there are some concrete measures. Both parties will improve their 'military interoperability, interchangeability and integration', meaning that they will be more closely aligned in equipment, doctrine and methodology; these are important considerations when contemplating fighting as part of a multinational coalition. There is also a commitment to closer industrial cooperation, again partly reflecting the fact that many of our most significant military platforms are now multinational: Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-35 Lightning, the Airbus Voyager tanker aircraft and A400M transports, the Boxer and Ajax armoured fighting vehicles, the RCH 155 self-propelled howitzer, the New Medium Helicopter programme. Britain and Germany will also continue jointly to develop a new deep precision strike missile and work on uncrewed aerial systems. It is interesting that the treaty also contains a provision for the UK and Germany to work more closely on defence exports through the UK-Germany Defence Industry Forum. Under the treaty, the UK will join Germany, France and Spain in the agreement on defence export controls first established in September 2021, which will align the export control regimes of all four countries. With this in place, the UK and Germany can undertake shared procurement and export promotion in the hope of increasing sales of platforms like the Typhoon, the A400M and Boxer while also making efficiency savings through streamlining sales processes. There may be new customers for the Typhoon in the Middle East and Asia, which could be critical for UK industry; BAE Systems Warton recently completed the last Typhoon on its order books, and there is a danger of loss of skills and capability if new buyers are not found. For the UK, Germany may be a very useful ally in these areas at the moment. While the government in London has still not set out any robust targets for increasing defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, a target agreed at the Nato summit in the Hague last month, Germany is going all in. Berlin will borrow €400 billion (£347 billion) over the next five years, in which time it intends to spend €649 billion (£563 billion) overall on defence, reaching 3.5 per cent of GDP on core military expenditure by 2029. Currently, the UK cannot dream of matching that largesse. The current defence budget is 2.6 per cent of GDP if the intelligence agencies are included and will still not reach £80 billion a year by 2027/28. Ministers cannot even give any certainty or timeframe for reaching three per cent of GDP. Perhaps a rising tide really does lift all boats. If the UK can partner with the free-spending Germans to sell more military equipment built wholly or partially in Britain, that can only be good. Nevertheless, with the Kensington Treaty now in place, Starmer and his government must make sure that we keep pace with our allies and do not find ourselves financially embarrassed. A great deal of talk has been talked on defence: now we need to look very closely at the walking.
Telegraph
8 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Votes for 16-year-olds will ‘disrupt exam season'
Sir Keir Starmer's plan to lower the voting age to 16 will disrupt exam season, a Tory shadow minister has claimed. Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said young people do not need the 'added pressure' of deciding whether to focus on their exams or 'stay up to watch' political debates. Downing Street this week confirmed a proposal that will mean 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election and potentially in local elections before then. The GCSE and A-Level exam season usually spans May and the first half of June – traditionally the time of year at which prime ministers have been most likely to call elections. Ms Coutinho, who has recently returned from maternity leave, told Times Radio: 'The thing that I worry about, and I might be speaking as a new mum, is that it's exam season. 'Elections are often in May, June, July and I don't really think 16 and 17-year-olds need this added pressure of being dragged into politics.' She added: 'Can you imagine saying, 'OK, I've got this right, it's a new right, I've got exam season coming up but maybe I should stay up to watch this political debate, maybe I should be out there campaigning.' 'Personally, I think 18 is the right age. I have no problem with politicians wanting to compete for younger votes [...] I don't think you have a massive difference between 18 and 16.' Ms Coutinho went on to say that because most 16 to 17-year-olds would be sitting GCSEs or AS-Level exams, 'I just don't think it is the right thing for them'. Sir Keir's son was taking his GCSEs when the last general election was called. The now-Prime Minister then borrowed an £18 million penthouse flat from Lord Alli, saying this allowed his son to study for his exams without walking past journalists or protesters. He said at the time: 'We had a situation where the election was called. Not what we expected. 'My son happened to be in the middle of his GCSEs. That means there are a lot of journalists outside the front door and in the street. I'm not complaining about that. 'But if you're 13, as my girl is, if you're 16, as my boy is, that's quite hard to navigate when you're concentrating on GCSEs.' Sir Keir's plans to drop the voting age to 16 comes after a surge in the popularity of Reform. Labour, like other Left-wing parties, has traditionally been more attractive to younger people. Downing Street is expected to press ahead with the reform despite it not having been planned for Labour's first parliamentary session, suggesting an element of panic over the next national poll. A Telegraph analysis suggested that giving 16-year-olds the vote will hand nine Commons seats to Labour that would otherwise have gone to Reform. Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, said the plans amounted to 'an attempt to rig the political system' but vowed to give Labour 'a nasty surprise' amid his rising social media popularity.
Scottish Sun
37 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Second 12-year-old boy arrested after massive fire rips through Scots town centre
ANOTHER 12-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a huge blaze that tore through a building in a Scottish town. The devastating inferno destroyed several buildings on King Street and Sandbed Street in Kilmarnock earlier this week. 5 A blaze tore through a four-storey building in a Scottish town on Monday Credit: PA 5 Fire crews raced to the scene in Kilmarnock at around 9.30pm Credit: Alamy 5 Firefighters were still on the scene the following day Credit: John Kirkby Emergency crews raced to the scene in the town centre on Monday evening after a ferocious blaze was seen ripping through a four-storey building. The alarm was raised after officers received reports of the massive fire at around 9.30pm Eight fire engines were scrambled to tackle the blaze, and police shut down surrounding roads. Firefighters were still on the scene the following day as they battled to dampen the blaze. No one was injured in the fire, however, several businesses are feared to have been destroyed by the flames. Police quickly revealed that it was being treated as wilful and launched an investigation into the blaze. Yesterday, police confirmed that a 12-year-old boy had been arrested and charged in connection with the fire. And today, the force has revealed that a second 12-year-old boy has been arrested and charged. Both of the youngsters are due to appear at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court at a later date. Police have also confirmed that two 11-year-old boys have been traced in connection with the alleged incident. Huge blaze breaks out at primary school as thick smoke billows into the sky A statement from the force read: "Around 9.30pm on Monday, 14 July, 2025, we received a report of a fire at a premises on Sandbed Street. "There were no reported injuries, and the fire is being treated as wilful. "A 12-year-old male youth was arrested and charged on Friday, 18 July. "A second 12-year-old boy had previously been arrested and charged on Thursday, 17 July. "Both are due to appear at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court at a later date. "Two 11-year-old boys have also been traced in connection with the fire, and reports will be submitted to relevant authorities. "Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 3692 of 14 July, 2025." 5 Two 12-year-old boys have been arrested and charged in connection with the fire Credit: PA
