UK to pledge additional £44.5m to strengthen Calais border controls
Britain will pay more to help prevent migrants in France from crossing Channel
Britain plans to spend another £44.5m to strengthen UK border controls with fencing, CCTV and other technology in Calais and at other ports in France.
The existing 2003 Le Touquet border agreement was widely criticised in France after the town of Calais became a hub for refugees hoping to travel to Britain.
Prime Minister Theresa May is to make the announcement today during talks with President Emmanuel Macron during his first official visit to the UK, the BBC reports. May and Macron are meeting at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and are expected to discuss cooperation on defence, counterterrorism, space technology and education, as well as the migrant crisis.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The five heads of the British and French security agencies will also be meeting together for the first time. Britain is to pledge to send three Chinook helicopters to Mali to offer logistical support for a French counterterrorism operation, while France will contribute troops to British-led Nato forces in Estonia in 2019, Reuters says.
The day-long photo op of political handshakes and smiles mask the French-Anglo tension beneath the surface, however, with May hoping that her flexibility will help ensure French goodwill in Brexit talks.
In what France24 describes as “diplomatic theatre”, Macron is expected to say France has agreed “in principle” to loan London the Bayeux Tapestry, the 941-year-old embroidery that recounts the 1066 Norman conquest of Britain. Despite the fanfare, Antoine Verney, director of the Bayeux Museum, has insisted that “nothing is set in stone”, CNN reports, and that the loan will be explored over the coming years.
The Guardian speculates that Macron means to make a “hard political point” about Brexit by mentioning the Bayeux Tapestry, with its metaphorical significance as a story of power politics.
“The English prince Harold forms an alliance with William of Normandy then betrays his promise to allow William to succeed,” the newspaper notes. “William invades, Harold is killed, and William rules England in his place.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Nuclear near-misses
The Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war
Speed Read 18 million people face famine as the country continues its bloody downward spiral
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US, Israel brace for Iran retaliatory strikes
Speed Read An Iranian attack on Israel is believed to be imminent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How green onions could swing South Korea's election
The Explainer Country's president has fallen foul of the oldest trick in the campaign book, not knowing the price of groceries
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's battle to save Kharkiv from Putin's drones
The Explainer Country's second-largest city has been under almost daily attacks since February amid claims Russia wants to make it uninhabitable
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published