Move will ‘compromise sovereignty’ and UK should sort out alternative to people’s perilous Channel crossings
France has formally rejected Boris Johnson’s call for British authorities to carry out joint patrols on the beaches around Calais to deter people from crossing the Channel unsafely. In a letter to Johnson the French prime minister, Jean Castex, said the country could not accept the presence of British police officers or soldiers as that would compromise the nation’s sovereignty.
Castex also suggested the UK should carry out reforms of its systems to offer “legal immigration paths” for people to go to the UK instead of risking the perilous crossing.
