The Home Secretary and France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed they had signed an agreement to strengthen UK-French cooperation on illegal immigration in the Channel. It follows accusations of the French navy allowing small boats crowded with migrants to enter British waters rather than being returned to Calais. Home Secretary Priti Patel said: 'The British people have simply had enough of illegal migration and the exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs. With UK support last year, France doubled the number of officers deployed daily on French beaches, improved intelligence sharing and purchased more cutting-edge technology. This resulted in France preventing twice as many crossings so far this year than in the same period in 2020.

Source: The Nation July 20, 2021 20:03 UTC