France today continued to fume about Boris Johnson’s decision to publish a letter to Emmanuel Macron on Twitter, as a minister called it a ‘mockery’ and suggested his demand to take back all migrants that crossed ‘exonerates the UK of responsibility’.
This was a key argument in the Prime Minister’s letter to Emmanuel Macron last week, due to the belief that returning people to France so they can claim asylum in the first safe country they arrived in would break the business model of people traffickers.
But today interior minister Gerald Darmanin suggested the letter was an example of UK ministers communicating differently in public than they were in private in yet another ratcheting up of tensions.
He told BFMTV: ‘When there are serious diplomatic exchanges.. and lives that are at stake… and some minutes later you see that a letter, which no one has ever mentioned before, is published on Twitter from the British Prime Minister to the President of the French Republic before the President of the Republic has received it, it’s a bit peculiar.
‘When in this letter the English say the French should ‘take back their migrants, all their migrants’, it’s a mockery.’
Boris Johnson wrote to Emmanuel Macron last week requesting that France take back all migrants who had crossed the Channel. But his decision to publish it on Twitter first infuriated the French
He added that British/French relations were not currently ‘normal’ and that ‘our private exchanges are not always in line with our public exchanges’, before blaming the UK’s ‘black economy’ for being a pull factor for migrants.
Earlier he had tweeted: ‘When Mr Johnson says that France must ‘take back its migrants’, what he is really asking is for France to exonerate him from any responsibility for receiving them.
‘The British Government must take responsibility.’
His comments came after it emerged Priti Patel had struck an agreement with Dutch ministers that migrants should be returned to the first country they arrive after opening direct talks with European ministers after the deaths of at least 27 people last week.
The French government barred Miss Patel from attending a Calais summit after president Macron took umbrage at an alleged breach of protocol.
Despite his tantrum, the Home Office said Miss Patel spoke with her Dutch counterpart yesterday and secured crucial agreements on reforms.
A spokesman said both ministers acknowledged that returns agreements – allowing migrants to be sent from the UK back to other EU nations – were ‘essential for breaking the criminal business model’ operated by organised crime gangs who charge more than £3,000 per illegal crossing.
France has repeatedly refused to consider a deal on returning migrants from the UK.
Today interior minister Gerald Darmanin suggested the letter was an example of UK ministers communicating differently in public than they were in private in yet another ratcheting up of tensions.
A Whitehall source said: ‘We will this week have more talks with counterparts on how we can work together to resolve this Europe-wide crisis. Priti’s Nationality and Borders Bill is the first step in addressing the broken asylum system and the pull factors it creates.’
At yesterday’s meeting, France agreed to allow aerial surveillance of its coastline by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency from Wednesday. France had repeatedly rejected offers of aerial reconnaissance planes from the UK.
A UK government source said: ‘We want close collaboration and we want to work together. For this to happen then we must be around the table.’
A Home Office spokesman said Miss Patel spoke with Dutch migration minister Ankie Broekers-Knol and they ‘agreed that the tragic incidents of last week demonstrate the need for European partners to work together’.
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The spokesman added: ‘The Home Secretary expressed that it was unfortunate that she wouldn’t be present at [the] meeting of interior ministers in Calais to discuss this issue.
‘The Home Secretary and minister for migration discussed ideas for enhanced bilateral and EU co-operation, including the need to tackle the criminal gangs that are orchestrating these deadly journeys through shared intelligence and joint law enforcement initiatives. Both agreed that returns agreements are essential for breaking the criminal business model.’
Talks with other nations are planned this week, it is understood. Three children, seven women and 17 men died off Calais on Wednesday last week while attempting to reach the UK from northern France.
On Friday, Mr Macron criticised PM Boris Johnson for posting a five-point action plan on Twitter. It led Mr Darmanin to withdraw Miss Patel’s invitation to yesterday’s talks.
The Home Secretary wrote in the Sun on Sunday: ‘We need to be creative about finding new solutions that will have the maximum possible impact, which is why the prime minister and I stand ready to discuss proposals with our French counterparts at any time.’
Health Secretary and former home secretary Sajid Javid said the PM’s strategy – including joint Anglo-French patrols and return agreements – were ‘exactly the kinds of things we need to do’. ‘Our policy is very clear: these boats must stop. We do need the cooperation of the French,’ he told Sky News.
More than 26,500 migrants have reached UK shores since the start of the year compared with just 8,410 in all of 2020.
His comments came after it emerged Priti Patel had struck an agreement with Dutch ministers that migrants should be returned to the first country they arrive after opening direct talks with European ministers
