Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized a significant financial agreement between the UK and France aimed at curbing illegal migrant crossings, following an incident where he claims French gendarmes observed migrants preparing to board small boats without intervening. Philp, who was observing activity from Hardelot-Plage in northern France, reported that gendarmes informed him they were under orders "not to intervene."
Philp has been a vocal critic of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s £662 million accord with the French government, designed to prevent migrants from making the perilous journey across the English Channel. He shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, from the beach, stating that officers present confirmed they had instructions to stand down. "There are lots of NGOs [non-governmental organisations] here who have been actively helping and facilitating the illegal immigration," Philp alleged in the video.
He described seeing a large group of approximately 100 individuals, predominantly young men from sub-Saharan Africa, waiting in the water for a "taxi boat." Philp asserted that Mahmood’s agreement with France is "not working."
Philp was reportedly in the sea, close to the waiting migrants, when he made his observations.
Images circulating from the same day also showed migrants boarding vessels off Gravelines beach in France. These incidents occurred as the Labour government, which took office after the previous Conservative administration, has shifted its approach to illegal immigration. Labour abandoned the Conservative government's Rwanda asylum plan, which had faced legal challenges and opposition. Instead, Labour has focused on disrupting smuggling networks and increasing law enforcement operations.
Despite these efforts, the number of migrant crossings to the UK has historically been high, with the second-highest number of crossings recorded in the previous year. This year, however, there has been a reported 45 percent decrease in arrivals compared to the same period last year, with approximately 13,350 arrivals recorded so far. Factors contributing to this decline are believed to include sustained unfavorable weather conditions in the Channel and successful police actions against trafficking operations.