London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

UK minister downplays tensions with France over Channel crossings crisis

UK minister downplays tensions with France over Channel crossings crisis

Damian Hinds says PM’s letter to Emmanuel Macron was ‘exceptionally supportive’ and ‘partnership is strong’

A Home Office minister has downplayed the diplomatic row between France and the UK over the refugee crisis in the Channel, insisting it was time to “draw up new creative solutions”.

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, clashed earlier this week over how to deal with people attempting to cross the Channel in small boats as they flee war, poverty and persecution.

Damian Hinds, whose brief covers security and borders, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “British and French officials have been working together throughout. In fact we’ve been working together for years, on these really important issues. The partnership is strong.”

France was angered by Johnson releasing a letter he sent to Macron in which he set out his proposals, including reiterating a call for joint UK-French patrols by border officials along French beaches to stop boats leaving – a proposal that Paris has long resisted.

Johnson also called for talks to begin on a bilateral returns agreement, saying it could have “an immediate and significant impact” on attempts to cross the Channel after the UK left a European Union returns agreement as a result of Brexit.

Hinds defended the prime minister’s letter to the French leader as “exceptionally supportive and collaborative”.

He said “nobody is proposing breaching sovereignty”, amid concerns over the request for UK officials to join patrols on French beaches.

“The [letter] absolutely acknowledges everything the French government and authorities have been doing, that it’s a shared challenge, but that now, particularly prompted by this awful tragedy, we have to go further, we have to deepen our partnership, we have to broaden what we do, we have to draw up new creative solutions,” he added.

However, Paris withdrew an invitation to the home secretary, Priti Patel, to attend a meeting of ministers from key European allies in Calais on Sunday.

Despite Patel being disinvited, the No 10 spokesperson said Home Office officials had travelled to France for talks on Friday with French counterparts as planned.

The French government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, rejected the proposal as “clearly not what we need to solve this problem” and said Johnson’s letter “doesn’t correspond at all” with discussions that the British prime minister and Macron had when they spoke on Wednesday.

“We are sick of double-speak,” he added, and said Johnson’s decision to post his letter on his Twitter feed suggested he was “not serious”.


On Friday, as the row between the governments continued, the first of the 27 people who died after a vessel capsized in the Channel on Wednesday was named as a young Kurdish woman from northern Iraq.

Relatives identified 24-year-old Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin, known to her family as Baran, as one of the victims on the deadliest day of the Channel migration crisis.

Krmanj Ezzat Dargali posted a tribute to his cousin on social media and told Sky News: “The situation is just awful. She was a woman in the prime of her life.

“I understand why so many people are leaving for a better life, but this is not the correct path. It’s the route of death.”

He said he hoped the British and French governments would “accept us in a better way”, adding: “Anyone who wants to leave their home and travel to Europe has their own reasons and hopes, so please just help them in a better way and not force them to take this route of death.”

While other victims have yet to be identified, relatives in a Kurdish village in Iraq are bracing for the worst. Loved ones in Ranya had been waiting for days for news from loved ones whose phones had gone silent as they attempted the dangerous crossing on Wednesday.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×