Priti Patel agrees to cooperate with French counterpart on channel crossings

The UK government has said that the Home Secretary and Interior Minister have “agreed to strengthen operational cooperation further”, and that “more must be done to stop the dangerous crossings” of the Channel.

They agreed to accelerate the delivery of the commitments made in the joint agreement of July 2021 to deliver on their joint determination to prevent 100% of crossings and make this deadly route unviable.

They discussed a range of additional steps, alongside additional technical solutions to tackle organised crime groups and respond to the escalating issue. It was agreed that the joint technical working group will meet imminently with a view to permitting the use of new technology as rapidly as possible.

This morning POLITICO has highlighted that the French edition of the statement reads slightly different, saying: “The French interior minister ultimately recalled that the only way to prevent 100% of crossings is to reduce the attractiveness of the U.K. for migrants.”

The government says the two ministers also committed to reinforcing intelligence sharing and police cooperation.

The Home Secretary also raised issues of wider migration challenges across Europe, including ongoing issues at the Polish border where the UK stood in solidarity with its European partners.

They agreed to stay in contact in the coming weeks and to ask their departments to take forward delivery of agreed actions.