London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

On Channel crossings, France is sick of UK ‘outsourcing’ problems

On Channel crossings, France is sick of UK ‘outsourcing’ problems

Analysis: there’s fury at Johnson tweeting out a letter to Macron – and some of the PM’s suggested five steps are inflammatory
France has reacted furiously to what officials variously called a “mediocre, unacceptable and wholly inappropriate” letter from Boris Johnson to Emmanuel Macron about the migrant Channel crossings.

The French interior minister cancelled a planned top-level meeting with the home secretary, Priti Patel,, while government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said France was “sick and tired” of Britain’s “doubletalk and outsourcing of problems”.

The fact that Johnson chose to make the letter public has infuriated Paris at least as much as its content. Macron, who officials said had not seen the letter before Johnson tweeted it, described it as “surprising”, adding: “One does not communicate from one leader to another, on questions such as these, by tweet and by letters that one then makes public.”

Johnson’s letter set out five steps for “saving lives and tackling the traffickers”. Some are uncontroversial. Technology, such as sensors and radar, is to some extent already being deployed – some funded by British government money – with extensive use being made of drones fitted with night vision cameras and patrols issued with thermal imaging binoculars.

Further cooperation on this, as well as on reciprocal maritime patrols and air surveillance, is clearly possible: British and French coastguards and sea rescue services already work in close cooperation in the Channel.

Nor is intelligence-sharing on the people smugglers a particular issue – though UK-EU police cooperation has not been made easier by Brexit. Indeed, Patel and her French opposite number, Gérald Darmanin, pledged to “reinforce intelligence-sharing and police cooperation” after a video meeting last week.

Other suggestions are not so straightforward. France has so far been unwilling to consider joint patrols, citing issues of sovereignty. French officials have asked how, if the situation were reversed, Britain might feel about having French soldiers patrolling its coastline.

The underlying objection to this approach is that France does not believe that multiplying the number of officers patrolling the coast is a solution. Paris argues it currently has more than 600 police officers and gendarmes on the Channel beat, with patrols out 24 hours a day, increasingly at night, stopping 65% of crossings.

When migrants and traffickers can hide among the dunes along more than 40 miles of coastline, emerge after a patrol has passed, and get a boat in the water in 10 minutes, officials who have worked in the area for years say it would need a police officer every 100 yards to stop them all.

Instead, France has proposed setting up joint processing centres on French soil, where applications for asylum in Britain could be examined by British immigration officers.

But it is Johnson’s final proposal, a bilateral returns agreement with France plus talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement, that seems to have sparked the fiercest reaction. Since Britain left the EU, it is no longer able to use the bloc’s Dublin system for returning migrants to the first member state they entered. It has not so far negotiated any bilateral deals. Macron has repeatedly stated the French view that France is merely a transit country for the very small percentage – roughly 3% – of migrants who enter the EU with the UK as their preferred final destination, and that the only long-term solution is greater Europe-wide cooperation to tackle a European – indeed, global – issue.

It is suggestions such as this, which Paris views as grandstanding for political gain, that have so angered France. Coming on top of the fisheries dispute, the Aukus announcement and ongoing discussions over Northern Ireland, they have reinforced the impression in Paris that Johnson is above all playing to a domestic gallery.

A senior French government official on Friday accused Britain of “duplicity”, saying London was playing a “double game” by cooperating energetically – and sometimes successfully – on specific technical issues, while at the same time “putting out exactly the opposite message for domestic consumption, for purely political ends”.

For Paris, Johnson’s letter was evidently one provocation too many. “As soon as Boris Johnson has a problem,” said Attal, “he considers it is Europe’s responsibility to solve it. It doesn’t work like that – it works through cooperation.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
×