‘Not our friends!’ New migrant crisis looms as Brexit-hating French PM Barnier faces chaotic confidence vote
Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that a new migrant crisis is looming, as Brexit-bashing French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is set to face a no-confidence vote today.
France’s interior minister Bruno Retailleau said that his department could face a funding shortfall of €751million (£624million) in 2025.
He said this could result in the government having insufficient funds to pay the police who patrol the Channel in northern France.
The French Gendarmes and Police Nationale are crucial to stopping migrants from boarding boats set for Britain.
Retailleau said: “If we do not have a text, including a budget text, for the Ministry of the Interior, it is €751million less if we renew the 2024 budget for 2025.
“This means problems paying the police, no new gendarmeries, no new police stations.”
The warning comes ahead of a no-confidence vote today on Barnier’s government, which is on the brink of collapse after it used article 49.3 of the French constitution to push through a social security budget bill without a vote.
If the vote goes through, it would mark the first time a French government has fallen through such a measure since 1962.
Some are worried that the shortfall in funds could result in the British Government paying more money, with the French “knowing full well that the Labour Party will give them what they want”.
Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, told the Daily Express: “The only real contribution the French have made to the Channel crisis is to escort migrant boats into British waters and then wash their hands of the problem.
“We have been paying them hundreds of millions to effectively exacerbate the problem.
“This planned cut to their policing budget will no doubt see them demand more money from the British Government, knowing full well that the Labour Party will give them what they want.”
He said that Britain would be left do to all the heavy lifting and the attempts to “smash the gangs” would be in vain.
Bates stressed that the only way to end illegal migration is to detain and deport illegal mirgants, stating that working with Europe had proved futile.
“On this issue, the French are not our friends, and simply see us as an easy revenue stream. Strengthening our borders does not require the generosity of others to make it work,” he added.
More to follow…