Yvette cooper voices small boat fury as she demands france finally changes rules

HOME SECRETARY YVETTE COOPER SAID IT WAS 'DISGRACEFUL' THAT NEARLY 1,200 PEOPLE CROSSED THE CHANNEL IN SMALL BOATS ON SATURDAY AS SHE CALLED ON FRANCE TO BRING IN NEW RULES TO

INTERCEPT VESSELS IN SHALLOW WATER 16:20, 02 Jun 2025Updated 16:30, 02 Jun 2025 Yvette Cooper has called on French authorities to urgently change the law to stop small boats launching. The

Home Secretary said it was "disgraceful and unacceptable" that 1,194 migrants had arrived in 18 boats on Saturday. She told MPs: "Criminal gangs will likely have made millions

of points this weekend alone. "The gangs are increasingly operating a model where boats are launched from further along the coast and people climb in from the water, exploiting French

rules that have stopped their police taking any action in the sea. "This is completely unacceptable." Ms Cooper said the previous government had tried to get France to change its

rules for several years to no avail. But she said she has been in talks with her French counterparts and President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet had accepted it needs to act. The UK is

pushing for French police to intervene and stop boats in shallow water amid concerns too little is being done to stop vessels launching. READ MORE: Keir Starmer hints major winter fuel

payment update could come as soon as next week Article continues below It comes after Keir Starmer said the public has "every right to be angry" about small boats crossing the

English Channel. He wrote on social media: "You have every right to be angry about small boat crossings. I'm angry too. We are ramping up our efforts to smash the people smuggling

gangs at source." Speaking in Glasgow, he said the Government has a "duty" to stop the crossings. Saturday's crossings brought the number of migrants known to have

crossed the Channel this year to 14,811. This is 42% higher than the same point last year. Earlier Éléonore Anne-Marie Caroit, deputy of the French national assembly, said Britain appears

like an "El Dorado" - the mythical city of gold in South America - for migrants. But she denied that France was failing to stop the problem, saying the two nations must stop

blaming each other. Ms Caroit said the UK has suffered as a result of Brexit, with the UK no longer able to return people to the EU under the Dublin Regulations - a key agreement between

European nations. She told the BBC: "The numbers have been increasing since Brexit after the UK is no longer part of the Dublin Regulation and has a very weak asylum policy." This

made it easier to return migrants with no right to be in the UK, she said. The French politician said: "It’s a complex situation, people want simple solutions, but you have to go to

Calais and see what it looks like, and how many small boats you have and how many people are waiting to go to the UK. Article continues below "So, of course, there is a part that can be

improved in France, and we’re working towards that. But I also think the UK needs to take responsibility, because it is so attractive on these migrant routes today, and we actually need to

work together instead of blaming each other." BE THE FIRST WITH NEWS FROM MIRROR POLITICS BLUESKY: Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here. And follow our Mirror Politics

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