This is the horrifying moment the French handed out lifejackets to migrants about to cross the Channel instead of dragging them back to the beach.
The coastguard made no effort to stop the inflatable boat before it motored off towards the UK with mainly young men on board near Calais this morning.
The embarrassing footage is yet another humiliation for Sir Keir Starmer as record numbers are crossing the Channel illegally to claim asylum in the UK and he heralded a ‘one in one out’ deal with France.
It came days after Emmanuel Macron promised a tougher approach was afforded a three-day state visit by King Charles including a lavish state banquet at Windsor Castle.
But this doesn’t appear to have been passed on to those policing the French coast.
Today the French authorities approached an overcrowded dinghy that had just set off from the beach at Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais.
But instead of turning the perilously full boat around, police came alongside in relatively shallow water and began passing those on board lifejackets.
The dinghy then motored off towards the UK.
Migrants on board an inflatable boat are handed lifejackets by the French authorities as they leave from Gravelines, France, heading across the Channel to the UK today
A dinghy begins its journey. Police did nothing to stop them
A child is lifted in but the majority on board are young men
Migrants run across the beach in Gravelines, France, in a bid to board a small boat for Britain
No police were seen on the beach when the groups of people came out of the sand dunes and attempted to board the black inflatable boat.
Witnesses saw one boat drop off several men at around 5am, who went into the sand dunes, before a second boat came close to shore, circling until the migrants appeared on the beach.
The people, including a family with two children, put themselves into groups before trying to climb onto the boat.
Around 40 people, believed to be about half of the full group, left on the dinghy.
Last week more than 500 small boat migrants arrived in Britain on the day Sir Keir Starmer signed his ‘one in, one out’ deal with Emmanuel Macron.
The figures were yet another blow to the Labour leader as the number of crossings over the year so far rose to 21,690, which is more than a 50 per cent higher than 2024.
Lifejackets are handed to migrants close to Calais today
A group of migrants run from the beach into the water to reach an inflatable dinghy to leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel
Another group huddle together at low tide as they wait for their dinghy arrive
This attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain came just as tougher migration controls were announced
A child looks back and one migrant waves as they begin their journey to the UK
It came as a pact was agreed by the PM and Mr Macron during his state visit to the UK is already unravelling.
There are questions over whether the scheme – which would see Britain send some Channel arrivals back but agree to take other asylum seekers from France – could even be blocked by the EU Commission.
Unveiling the plan alongside Mr Macron, Sir Keir claimed it was ‘ground-breaking’ and would ‘prove the concept that if you come over by small boats, then you will be returned to France‘.
But as the Anglo-French summit was being held, hundreds more migrants were crossing the Channel from northern France. Border experts said the proposals were ‘scratching a very bare minimum of the surface’.
Leaks had suggested 50 migrants a week, around one in 17 arrivals, would be sent back to France initially. But that was seemingly not signed off by the leaders.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron shake hands on the steps of Number 10 after they agreed a deal to tackle migrants crossing to Britain
Migrants are brought on shore at Dover after being intercepted by a Border Force cutter
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Ms Cooper said: ‘The numbers are not fixed, even for this pilot phase that we are starting now.
‘So this will be a programme that we roll out step-by-step, and we will provide updates as we go.
‘But we are going to do this in a steady way.’
Despite signs EU states could object to the UK-France deal, Ms Cooper told LBC she was confident Brussels would let it go ahead.
‘We have been talking to the EU commissioners. We’ve also been talking to other European interior ministers and governments throughout this process,’ she said.
‘The French interior minister and I have been speaking about this to develop this since October of last year, and the EU commissioners have been very supportive.
‘So that is why we have designed this in a way to work, not just for the UK and France, but in order to fit with all their concerns as well.’
She added: ‘Because we’ve done that work all the way through, we do expect the EU Commission to continue to be supportive.’
Your browser does not support iframes.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Ms Cooper also played down Mr Macron’s jibe that Brexit had made tackling illegal immigration harder, arguing people smugglers would ‘weaponise anything’.
Downing Street said the UK is ‘confident’ the agreement complies with both domestic and international law and has discussed the plans with Brussels.
The PM’s spokesman said: ‘We’ve done a lot of work to make sure the system is robust to legal challenges, and of course, France is a safe country and a member of the ECHR.
‘We’re confident that this arrangement complies with both domestic and international law, and clearly… we’ve discussed these arrangements already with the (European) Commission.’
Sir Keir is holding talks with his Cabinet at an ‘away day’ at Chequers, his grace-and-favour Chequers country estate.
Sir Keir said the governments were taking ‘hard-headed, aggressive action’.
‘For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order,’ he said.
As the Anglo-French summit was being held yesterday, hundreds more migrants were crossing the Channel from northern France
In exchange for every return, a different individual will be allowed to come here via a safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally.’
But the PM failed to say how quickly migrants will be sent back in total or on a weekly basis when the scheme launches, which he said would be in the ‘coming weeks’.
Mr Macron said the deal needed legal ratification first, without putting a time frame on it.
