Emmanuel Macron has claimed that a public letter sent by Boris Johnson after 27 people died trying to reach British shores was not a “serious” way of handling the Channel crossings crisis, as France cancelled an emergency meeting with Priti Patel in response.
Labour described the tone of the letter containing proposals to prevent future crossings – and the decision to make it public – “clearly an enormous error”, after French interior minister Gerald Darmanin responded by saying that Ms Patel was “no longer invited” to Sunday’s summit with European ministers.
Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is running for the French presidency, described the letter as “frankly inadmissible” and “obviously an additional provocation from Boris Johnson, who is in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects with the EU”.
Mr Johnson had urged the French president to allow joint patrols on French beaches and more airborne surveillance, while Downing Street rejected campaigners’ pleas for more safe, legal routes for people to seek asylum – fuelling accusations that ministers are effectively “complicit with the people-smugglers”.
