UK and France fail to agree new deal to stop small boat crossings

Britain has failed to agree a new agreement with France to stop small boats crossing the Channel after talks stalled due to police action off the coast of Calais.

Instead ministers were forced to agree a two-month extension just hours before the current multimillion-pound deal was due to expire at midnight on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Shabana Mahmood said the extension was necessary because the home secretary had “driven a hard bargain with the French to offer the British people the best deal to stop illegal immigrants traveling to Britain and risking their lives”, adding ministers wanted “more bang for our buck” from the deal.

The Home Office is understood to be pushing for increased measures, including a significant increase in the number of law enforcement on the French coast and stopping boats in the water to prevent migrants making dangerous crossings.

It was previously reported that the home secretary was pushing for performance-related clauses that would tie a £650 million funding package to the number of boats stopped by the French.

Ms Mahmood’s spokesman also took aim at Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has previously said it would not give “another penny” to France and described the deal as a “scam”.

“Reform’s comments are completely reckless and will lead to a wave of migrants risking their lives crossing the Channel. “This is completely reckless.

“Look at the work we’ve done with the French since we’ve been in government: 42,000 migrants are being prevented from making this dangerous journey. Farage would risk their lives and welcome them to Britain,” the spokesman said.

The current arrangement, worth £478 million, was announced in 2023 and will expire at the end of March.

When this was announced, the previous Conservative government said it would fund a new detention center in France and hundreds of extra law enforcement officers on the French coast.

However, crossings of the Channel have increased rapidly since then; Some 41,472 people arrived in the UK on small boats in 2025 and Ms Mahmood is now under pressure to reduce the numbers.

Last week, amid growing speculation over the future of the deal, Downing Street insisted Britain and France were “united” in the aim of halting small boat crossings and said the UK aimed to deliver “long-term value for money” as part of any new deal with Paris.

But the prime minister’s spokesman refused to comment on how much money the government was prepared to give France for a new deal.

Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer wanted the current agreement to be improved, his spokesman said: “We are always looking to improve where we can improve our ability to prevent small craft crossings.

“I won’t get in the way of negotiations, but we are looking at how we can bring flexibility and innovation into any deal with the French to deliver long-term value for money and a real impact on small craft crossings, building on the 40,000 blocked crossing attempts since this government came into office.”

Asked if the deal provided value for money, he said the measures were “a testament to the work our teams have done with the French teams”.

“We are united in stopping small boat crossings that put lives at risk,” the official added.

Around 4,169 people have arrived in the UK on small boats so far this year, according to official figures.

The extension of the agreement comes as charities and campaign groups call on the government to do more to prevent people losing their lives across the Channel and to open safe and legal routes for refugees.

Imran Hussain, Director of External Affairs at the Refugee Council, said: “Policing the Channel alone to stop small boat crossings is not enough. If the government really wants to crack down on the gangs, it must address the fundamental issue of why people are making dangerous journeys in the first place.”

“We know from our frontline services that there are many reasons why people fleeing persecution and brutal conflict in countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan want to come here; many already speak some English, have family here or have cultural connections to the UK.

“But the government has closed the few available safe and legal routes, including family reunification, which mostly helped women and children. All this is pushing more desperate people into the hands of traffickers.”

Meanwhile, Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of the Refugee Movement, said it was “scandalous that UK governments spend hundreds of millions of pounds of public money every year on the French state to brutalize people seeking safety.”

He added: “Instead of renewing the cruel and costly deal with France that has no impact on Channel crossings, the government should invest this money in creating new safe routes for people to seek asylum without putting their lives at further risk.”