Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with French authorities on the recent increases in illegal crossings of the English channel.

My officials meet regularly with our French partners at all levels, with regional Prefet(e)s and with the Ministry of the Interior, to discuss these crossings. The Clandestine Channel Threat Commander and the Director General for Border Force met with their French counterparts last week as part of those regular meetings, and my Right Honourable Friend, the Home Secretary, discussed Channel crossings with her counterpart at the G7 last week. We are clear, as are the French, that these crossings are dangerous, unnecessary, and often facilitated by criminals. We are committed to stopping them.