𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour will give France another “astonishing” migrant payday – taking the total bill to more than £1.3 billion since the Channel crisis began.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will give Paris £500 million to pay for an increase in police patrols, a new vessel to intercept migrant taxi boats, two helicopters, drones and a camera surveillance system.

And the Home Office will give the French another £160m to test new tactics to stop Channel migrant crossings.

But critics blasted the latest handouts as the three-year package will take the total given to Emmanuel Macron’s Government to more than £1.3 billion.

Reform’s Zia Yusuf told the Daily Express: “It is astonishing that Labour is handing France a further £660 million for a system that has already failed, taking the total to over £1 billion.

“It is an abhorrent misuse of taxpayers’ hard-earned money – funding that could instead deliver thousands of new nurses or police officers here in the UK.

“After years of payments, the results speak for themselves: interception rates are down 13%, crossings are up 41%. More money, worse outcomes, and the British public are rightly outraged.

“Not a single penny more should be sent to France – they should be refunding us for failing to uphold their end of the deal.

“Only Reform UK will end this crisis by stopping the handouts and detaining and deporting all illegal migrants.”

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 they 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.

“This weak Government has no control of our borders. Since the election over 70,000 illegal immigrants have crossed – a 45 per cent increase compared to before the election.

“Their claim to smash the gangs is laughable.”

Mr Philp added: “This deal makes some small tweaks but fundamentally changes nothing.

“So long as illegal small boat immigrants are put up in cushy hotels, allowed to work illegally and 95% ultimately stay then they will continue to flood in.

“This deal will make no difference whatsoever.

“We’ve heard it all before from Labour – we all remember their ludicrous claims to smash the gangs. This is no better and it won’t work either.”

Paris will receive £220 million this year as part of a desperate bid to prevent a Summer surge in arrivals.

The Home Office claimed the deal will lead to almost 1,100 police, intelligence and military officers being deployed in Northern France to track down migrants and snare smugglers.

This would be an increase of 40%, from almost 700 officers under Rishi Sunak’s deal with Emmanuel Macron, sources said.

And Paris has vowed to use a new maritime vessel – as well as 20 officers – to intercept more migrant taxi boats in the water. The French claimed they have stopped six of the vessels in the past two months.

A new unit of 50 specialist riot officers will also be deployed to the beaches amid fears over a surge in violence on the French coast.

This is despite France’s Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), which specialises in crowd control and maintaining public order, regularly being deployed to the beaches and standing by as migrants dash into the water.

Home Office sources said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is willing to withhold £100m if France fails to stop enough Channel migrant crossings.

The UK is expecting a “significant” fall, it is understood. The cash could be “redirected” if other tactics are proven to work.

Labour’s £660m deal comes after former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signed a three-year £475m agreement with Emmanuel Macron in 2023.

This came after a series of pledges, totalling around £200m, between 2018 and 2022.

But the number of boats being intercepted has fallen over the past five years to a record low.

France is only intercepting a third of Channel migrant crossings, down from 50% when the £475m deal was struck.

Out of 6,233 attempted crossings in the first 12 weeks of this year, some 2,064 (33.1%) were stopped.

That was down from 35.1% last year and 36.7% in 2024.

In total, 22,476 migrants were stopped from crossing to the UK last year.

In 2021, 23,923 departures were prevented. This increased to 33,000 in 2022, before dropping again to 26,000 in 2023.

The House of Commons Library said partial figures for 2024 – from May to December – revealed 21,317 were stopped from reaching the UK.

Some 41,472 migrants crossed the Channel last year, up from 36,566 in 2024.

More than 6,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “We must restore order and control to our borders. That means bearing down on these dangerous crossings and bringing people smugglers to justice.

“Our work with the French has already stopped tens of thousands of crossings, and this government has deported or returned nearly 60,000 people with no right to be here.

“This historic agreement means we can go further: ramping up intelligence, surveillance and boots on the ground to protect Britain’s borders.”

Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood said: “Our work with the French has stopped tens of thousands of illegal migrants boarding boats headed to Britain.

“But we must do more. This landmark deal will stop illegal migrants making the perilous journey and put people smugglers behind bars.”