Keir Starmer forced to beg Emmanuel Macron to do more to stop the boats as 1,500 migrants cross the Channel in just four days
Sir Keir Starmer will plead with the French president to do more to stop the boats after another 1,500 migrants crossed the Channel in just four days.
The Prime Minister will discuss the growing small boats crisis with Emmanuel Macron at the G7 gathering of world leaders in Canada this week, as good weather tempts more people to try to reach Britain illegally.
It comes after The Mail on Sunday revealed how little the French authorities are doing to prevent dinghies setting sail, leading to record numbers of arrivals this year, despite being handed £480million by the UK in recent years.
Images of French police standing by as dozens of migrants clamber into the boats, as a result of a law that prevents them intervening when people are in the water, have sparked outrage in the UK.
French ministers have promised to close the loophole and introduce tougher new tactics, with officers armed with batons and tear gas seen wading into shallow waters for the first time last week, but a 'maritime review' is still continuing.
Asked on his way to the G7 summit if the French were doing enough, Sir Keir said: 'One of the things we've worked hard at is improving the relations with the French in relation to the work we both need to do to stop these boat crossings, which I'm determined we will absolutely bear down on.
'Nobody should be making that journey.
'As a result of that we are seeing a much greater cooperation in northern France – I want to see more cooperation in northern France, and it's an issue that I have raised and will raise again with President Macron.'
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured at a meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday) will plead with the French president to do more to stop the boats after another 1,500 migrants crossed the Channel in just four days
He added it will be 'one of the issues I'll be discussing' with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni and German chancellor Friedrich Merz as well as Mr Macron this week.
His comments come as latest Home Office figures show that 1,505 migrants reached English shores between Wednesday and Saturday, as the weather improved after ten days with no crossings.
There were 400 arrivals in six boats on Wednesday, followed by 52 in a single dinghy on Thursday, then a massive 919 people in 14 boats on Friday and another 134 in two on Saturday.
It takes the total for the year so far to 16,317 – 43 per cent per cent higher than the 11,431 who arrived in the same period of 2024.
Still more are expected in the coming days as a heatwave is forecast for the UK, with calm conditions expected at sea.
The growing tally is putting ministers under mounting pressure to take action.
Sir Keir vowed to 'smash the gangs' when Labour won the election but he scrapped the Tories' plan to deport Channel migrants to Rwanda.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged at last week's Spending Review that the use of costly hotels to house migrants would be ended – but not until the next election due in 2029.
Last night Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'The Government must urgently get the French to prevent these crossings completely.
'We've paid them nearly half a billion pounds to do this, yet they are failing.
'Any illegal immigrant who makes it to the UK should be immediately removed to location outside Europe, for example Rwanda.'
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