UK to Use Every Possible Tactic to Deal With Migrant Channel Crossings, PM Johnson Says

LONDON (Sputnik) – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that his government is "will use every possible tactic at our disposal" to deal with the surge in migrants crossing the English Channel, but stressed that the solution largely depended on the French authorities.

“We depend to a large extent on what the French are doing, but clearly as time goes on and this problem continues, we are going to have to make sure that we use every possible tactic at our disposal to stop what I think is a vile trade and a manipulation of people’s hopes", Johnson told Parliament.

The prime minister made the statement as Home Minister Priti Patel was meeting her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven ministers in London.

On 21 July, London pledged to pay Paris 54 million pounds ($74 million) to help fund their efforts to curb migrants crossing the Channel by boat, including by deploying more security forces and installing surveillance equipment.

The Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that Patel had told Conservative lawmakers that the UK will withhold the money in view of the increasing number of migrants that have been reaching England’s coast in the last few weeks.

"We've not given them a penny of the money so far and France is going to have to get its act together if it wants to see the cash. It’s payment by results and we've not yet seen those results. The money is conditional", she reportedly told her fellow party member.

According to the Daily Mail online edition, around 1,600 migrants have crossed the English Channel in the past four days, bringing the number of people who have completed the dangerous journey so far this year to 12,600.