Rishi Sunak will arrive in Paris this morning for the first U.K.-France summit in five years. That seems mad that the UK has ignored a neighbour for this long.
The Times reports Sunak will agree to give France three years of payments, worth at least £75 million in the first year, to stop migrant boats “at source.” It is said to include hundreds more French police officers patrolling beaches … greater intelligence-sharing … and tech like drones.
The last £62 million deal in November saw France agree, er, 40 percent more French officers on beaches … more joint intelligence …. and more surveillance like drones. This Commons Library briefing walks through past deals worth £232 million — all while the number of dinghies continues to climb.
The deal they want at some point: No. 10 say the PM “will push forward” calls for a U.K.-EU returns agreement. Before Brexit, some people could be sent back to EU countries they had passed through on the way to the U.K. — the British hope is that Macron will support a replacement scheme.
They deal they won’t get: A bilateral U.K.-French returns deal. Nor is Sunak asking for one, reports the Independent — which splashes on pessimistic French briefing.
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Zeez is the prix fixe monsieur. A la carte is today not available. Merci.
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takes 2 to tango
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RISHI JUST NEEDS TO LOOK JOHNNY FOREIGNER IN THE EYE AND TELL HIM WHAT’S WHAT!!
THEY TRY TO PUT ON A BRAVE FACE BUT DEEP DOWN THEY KNOW THAT BREXIT BRITAIN HOLDS ALL THE CARDS!!
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C'mon, Brexit, that's half arsed at best.
The "holds all the cards" line is good, a nice strong finish, but you could have beefed it up with something like:
WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WHY FRANCE DOESN'T WANT TO KEEP ALL THESE POOR POETS AND DOCTORS FLEEING WARZONES LIKE ALBANIA. IT'S ALMOST AS IF THEY WANT TO GET RID OF THEM. WHY ON EARTH WOULD THAT BE THE CASE? BIT RACIST REALLY.
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to be fair, I think BB has perfectly explained the thinking of the previous 2 tory administrations who have described the french as foes and turds
which is probably fine for an episode of blackadder but possibly explains why Macron is so happy to hand out maps to kent to anyone washing up on the beaches of St Trope
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Why doesn't the govt spend those ££millions processing people at Calais who want to come to the UK. Those who "pass" can then be brought over here safely.
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cause that would be a sensible solution and wouldn't get 2 "I'm tough" headlines in the Heil (although it will also lead to 3 weeks of bad headlines but those will be in 2 months so we don't worry about that now)
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Very matey, matey isn’t it?
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