France has called on Britain to overhaul its asylum system and sign border security pacts with Belgium and the Netherlands to help prevent people endangering their lives by crossing the Channel in small boats to reach the UK.
Interior minister Gérald Darmanin said in an interview with the Financial Times that such steps would complement a revised agreement signed in November, under which the UK will increase payments to France by about 15 per cent to £63mn a year to fund a rise in the number of officers patrolling French beaches from 200 to 300.
“The accord we’ve signed is a good one that will allow us to boost patrols and better co-ordinate on combating people smugglers, but it is incomplete,” he added.