France Accuses U.K. of ‘Blackmail’ Over Migrant Crossings
- U.K. training border officials to turn back migrants
- Priti Patel under presssure to withold payments to France
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, on Sept. 8.
Photographer: Steve Parsons/PA Images/Getty Images
France won’t accept “financial blackmail” from the U.K. over migrants crossing the English Channel, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday, accusing his British counterpart Priti Patel of “posturing.”
Britain and France are trading blows over how to tackle a rising number of migrants making their way to U.K. shores across the world’s busiest shipping area, with the government in London asserting it has legal powers to turn round the small boats involved. The U.K. will press ahead with training its maritime border force to intercept and return the vessels, according to a person familiar with the matter.