Mayors in France want to rip up a key border deal with Britain as they say it is soft on illegal migration
MAYORS in France want to rip up a key border deal with Britain as they say it is soft on illegal migration.
The 14-strong Opal Coast group accused UK politicians of making noises about stopping boats but not doing enough to deter them.
Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said: “People talk of a border but in fact it doesn’t exist because the British authorities accept all the migrants who arrive. Enough is enough.”
The local leaders want Paris to renegotiate the 2003 Le Touquet Treaty that allows UK and French officials to be in the other nation’s port.
The idea is that if no UK officials are in Calais, migrants could cross the Channel without needing gangs, with France all but rid of the problem.
They also want Sir Keir Starmer to toughen enforcement on illegal arrivals, who can “find a job and stay there”.
No 10 denied being soft, while the PM vowed he was “targeting the gangs”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper admitted: “We do need stronger action on illegal working in the UK.”
But she said enforcement raids are up by a fifth since the election, with 10,000-plus illegal migrants deported.