Hundreds of migrants swarm across Channel after UK-France talks to extend deal stall

Five small boats each carrying some 50 foreign nationals have been witnessed arriving in the UK from the Channel today, as the migrant deal with France has hit a troubling standstill.

Estimates of near 300 migrants have made the journey today as weather conditions remain favorable for what would otherwise be a harsh and perilous crossing.

The influx comes as the UK's stalling migrant deal with France has been extended by two months at a whopping cost of £16.2million.

Contracts were extended by a further two months to enable Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to thrash out the terms of a new agreement, as the current terms expired at midnight last night.

In the meantime, French law enforcement, intelligence and military reservist officers will remain operational on the Calais coast as part of the push to track down people smugglers and thwart small boat crossings.

Despite this, Sir Keir Starmer's record on the small boats crisis is officially worse than any of his predecessors, with almost 70,000 reaching British shores in the Labour leader's first 20 months in power.

Britain's small boats agreement with France was first signed under the previous Conservative Government in 2023, with the £476million package funding a new detention centre and hundreds of extra law enforcement officers.

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