Chancellor Rachel Reeves' latest bid to crack down on small boat crossings looks set to be a damp squib as Britain already shells out millions to France despite record crossings, government data shows.
It comes after the Chancellor announced a raft of measures in her spending review aimed at curbing illegal migration into Britain.
Reeves promised funding of up to £280million more per year by the end of the spending review period in 2028-29 for the new Border Security Command and committed to end spending on hotels for asylum seekers by the next election.
“We will be ending the costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament”, the Chancellor said on Wednesday, adding that with funding to cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases and return those with no right to be in the UK.
GB News has compared the amount ring-fenced for tackling migration over the next four years to the eye-watering sum we already send to France every year to stop small boats from attempting to cross the Channel.
What we found suggests Reeves' £280million yearly cash injection barely recoups the losses Britain has incurred from sending millions to Emmanuel Macron to stop the boats.
Since 2015, Britain has given France almost £800million to prevent illegal border crossings,
ChatGPT
Payday
Since 2015, Britain has given France almost £800million to prevent illegal border crossings, government data shows (see chart).
Here's the yearly breakdown:
| Financial Year | Amount Paid (Original) | Approx. (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | £14.7 m | £14.7 m |
| 2015/16 | £46 m | £46 m |
| 2016/17 | £17 m | £17 m |
| 2017/18 | £36 m | £36 m |
| 2018/19 | €50 m | ≈ £45.5 m |
| 2019/20 | €3.6 m + €2.5 m | ≈ £5.8 m |
| 2020/21 | €31.4 m | ≈ £27.6 m |
| 2021/22 | €62.7 m | ≈ £55 m |
| 2022/23 | €72.2 m | ≈ £62.2 m |
| 2023/24 | €141 m | ≈ £121.5 m |
| 2024/25* | €191 m | ≈ £164.5 m |
| 2025/26* | €209 m | ≈ £180 m |
An agreement made under Rishi Sunak's premiership in 2023 pledged £480million, but not all of that has yet been spent.
Despite this yearly cash injection, the numbers have continued to swell.
Last month, French and UK border patrol vessels were overwhelmed by a record surge in small boat migrants, as well over 1,000 crossed the English Channel.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Reeves' has announced a huge £680million investment to stop small boats
GETTYOver 15,000 have already made their way across the Channel so far this year - more than any other year since the crisis began.
Some 3,738 arrived in May alone - 822 more than the previous record held in 2022.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "Labour has completely lost control of our borders. Their pledge to smash gangs in tatters.
"They scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even began, and now the boats won't stop coming. So far, this is already the worst year on record."
Over 3,700 migrants arrived this May
GB News
France's commitment
France has committed to imposing harsher controls on stopping small boats, including six new patrol boats that will not only rescue migrants from drowning but could also intercept the "taxi boats" before they leave for the UK.
A French interior ministry source told The Telegraph: "We are aware of the high stakes involved in interventions at sea and of the need to adapt our doctrine of action.
"Today, our intervention can only take place to rescue a boat already at sea, in particular because of the criminal liability issues associated with any interception carried out for any other reason.
"We would like to change this framework so that we can operate in shallow waters, up to 300 metres from the coast, and thus intercept 'taxi boats', while respecting the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as the Montego Bay Convention."
Most Read
