Shabana Mahmood is preparing to hand France an extra £500million to cope with the small boat crisis as Britain prepares for a surge in Channel crossings while weather conditions improve.
The Home Secretary is said to be seeking more “bang for our buck” from French authorities as she looks to renew a major deal with Paris.
Negotiations between the Entente Cordiale allies over renewing their migration agreement are approaching a critical deadline, with the current arrangement set to lapse next Tuesday.
A Home Office delegation will travel to Paris this week to thrash out terms for extending the deal.
While Ms Mahmood is understood to be ready to reaffirm the deal, sending another half-billion to France, she is seeking a better arrangement.
Government sources indicated that the Home Secretary is pursuing a “more ambitious” arrangement that delivers “more bang for our buck”.
The existing £500million accord, struck by Rishi Sunak in 2023, has faced criticism for failing to stem the flow of migrants, with just 35 per cent of crossing attempts thwarted by French authorities.
Last year saw 41,472 people reach Britain by small boat, representing a 13 per cent increase on the previous year and the second-highest annual figure on record.
Shabana Mahmood is preparing to hand France an extra £500million to cope with the small boat crisis
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French officials intercepted 22,476 migrants, meaning nearly two-thirds successfully completed the journey despite years of British financial support.
Defending the French partnership, the Home Secretary stated: “Without it, the number of crossings would be even higher.”
She added that both nations shared a “collective interest” in achieving maximum impact from any renewed agreement, per The Sun.
Meanwhile, France has raised concerns about heightened risks facing its officers patrolling the coastline, citing legal threats to officers and growing aggression from some migrants.
The number of crossings is beginning to rise again as weather conditions improve
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It comes as illegal crossings begin to rise as conditions over the channel improve.
Almost 600 migrants have already arrived in the UK over the past five days, beginning with 262 arrivals on Wednesday.
This year’s total has now surpassed 4,000, with a Border Force vessel observed offloading over 50 individuals at Dover harbour on Sunday.
GB News counted 55 people as they disembarked the Volunteer rescue ship and were taken to the Border Force migrant processing centre in Dover.
4,000 migrants have successfully crossed the Channel into the UK this year
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GETTYKeir Starmer has now overseen more small boat arrivals than any other Prime Minister, with more than 66,000 crossing the Channel in his first 19 months in power.
On Friday, Britain’s border chief quit after failing to bring down the number of small boat migrants crossing the Channel.
Martin Hewitt, who was appointed to the post by the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is expected to leave at the end of the month.
“There was a view that the objectives were not being met, and there needed to be a tighter, more defined operational focus,” an insider revealed.
Keir Starmer has now overseen more small boat arrivals than any other Prime Minister, with more than 66,000 crossing the Channel in his first 19 months in power
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Mr Hewitt had staked his stint as border chief on reducing the number of arrivals on British shores.
Speaking during a visit to Tunisia in 2024, the outgoing border chief said: “Because that is absolutely clear to me from the Prime Minister, from the Home Secretary, and I’m sure from the Foreign Secretary. That’s what my job is here to try and deliver. So that’s absolutely, that is the measure.”
The Home Secretary recently set out additional plans to dissuade migrants from making the 21-mile journey.
Among them was a scheme that would see failed asylum seeker families offered payments of up to £40,000 to leave the UK.