UK dropped from meeting after infuriating France

FRANCE has scrapped planned talks with the UK about migrant crossings in anger at a letter by Britain’s prime minister over the crisis, pushing relations to new lows following the deaths of 27 people in the Channel this week.

The cancellation on Friday comes in the wake of the letter sent by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the French persident, in which he criticised France over the country’s handling of illegal immigration and human trafficking.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told his UK counterpart, Priti Patel, she was no longer invited to talks today about the migrant crisis in the Channel with other European ministers.

The meeting was set to go ahead without any UK presence, prompting London to demand France reconsider the snub.

The row puts the two countries at odds when they are searching for a co-ordinated response to the worst migrant tragedy in the Channel.

It has added to a litany of postBrexit problems between Britain and France, with French fishermen on Friday staging a blockade of Channel ferry ports and stopping freight entering the Channel Tunnel, in protest over fishing licences.

In a message, Darmanin told Patel the letter from Johnson to

Macron, suggesting France take back migrants who cross the Channel, was a “disappointment”.

Referring to Johnson’s posting of the letter on social media, he added: “Making it public made it even worse. I therefore need to cancel our meeting in Calais on Sunday.”

A source close to Darmanin said that today’s meeting would be going ahead with the ministers from other European countries.

“We consider the British Prime Minister’s public letter to be unacceptable and contrary to the discussions we

had with our counterparts,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

“Therefore, Priti Patel is no longer invited to the interministerial meeting on Sunday, which is maintained in the format of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the European Commission.”

In the UK, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps asked Paris to reconsider.

“It’s in our interests. It’s in their interests,” he told the BBC.

Speaking to BFM-TV, government spokesman Gabriel Attal slammed the letter as “poor” and added France was

“tired of (Britain) speaking out of both sides of the mouth” in discussions on the issue.

Johnson wrote to Macron on Thursday, asking France to immediately start taking back all migrants who landed in England after crossing the Channel.

Taking back migrants “would significantly reduce – if not stop – the crossings, saving thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of the criminal gangs” behind the trafficking, he said.

Johnson’s letter also set out areas for greater co-operation with France, proposing joint border patrols, aerial surveillance and intelligence sharing.

A manslaughter probe has been opened following the migrant deaths on Wednesday.

Five suspected traffickers accused of being directly linked to the doomed crossing have been arrested.

Darmanin said only two survivors, an Iraqi and Somali, had been found and they were recovering from extreme hypothermia and would eventually be questioned.

Northern France was also hit by protests on Friday on the separate issue of fighing rights.

Under a deal agreed by Britain and the EU late last year, European fishing vessels can continue to ply UK waters if they can prove they operated there in the past.

But Paris says dozens of French boats have had their applications to fish the UK’s rich waters rejected, an assessment strongly contested by London.

“We don’t want handouts, we just want our licences back. The UK must abide by the post-Brexit deal. Too many fishermen are still in the dark,” said French national fisheries committee chairperson Gerard Romiti, describing the action as a “warning shot”.