Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her French counterpart on tackling human trafficking gangs that operate across the English Channel.
The UK and France maintain a longstanding relationship on tackling illegal migration at the shared border. The UK has committed several funding packages to supporting this work. Most recently, a bilateral funding arrangement was reached between the UK and France on 20 July 2021.
The Home Secretary maintains regular contact with her French counterpart, Interior Minister Darmanin, on the issue of illegal migration and small boats crossings. They last spoke on 15th November where they agreed to accelerate the delivery of the commitments made in the joint statement of July 2021.
The statement following the call can be found on gov.uk.