Footage of French police standing by while migrants head to Britain proves Keir Starmer’s plan to stop small boats won’t work

Major flaws in Labour’s proposals to tackle the small boat crisis were exposed yesterday as French police watched as migrants made their way to Britain.

The Daily Mail observed how officers from France’s Police Nationale did nothing to stop migrants taking a ‘taxi boat’ to Dover.

The disturbing scenes on Gravelines beach, near Calais, exposed Sir’s shortcomings Keir Starmer‘s proposals to seek closer cooperation with France and other European countries.

Labor has pledged to tackle the migrant crisis by pursuing “new agreements with France and other countries on return and family reunification” and “deeper security cooperation with Europe”.

It has also proposed setting up a new ‘Border Security Command’ Tory Ministers say this already exists.

A group of French police officers are seen standing idly by as a group of migrants make their way to Britain

A group of migrants are seen in the water on Gravelines beach this morning

Around 30 migrants are seen arriving at Dover Docks earlier this morning

This young boy was seen on the boat leaving Gravelines beach in France as officers looked on. He was later seen wearing the same red jacket when he arrived at Dover Docks earlier this morning

However, it is highly unlikely that Labour’s proposal for a new return agreement will become a reality. Home Office insiders have told the Mail that similar requests have been repeatedly rejected by the French government.

Instead, members of the Tory Right have called on Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights or change Britain’s relationship with the Strasbourg court to remove barriers to the return of illegal migrants to their home countries to take.

Meanwhile, Rwanda’s asylum program will start if the Conservatives win on July 4.

But Sir Keir said he will cancel the plan ‘immediately’ if Labor wins.

The huge sums of money handed over to Emmanuel Macron’s government have had mixed success in reducing the number of border crossings.

Since 2014, almost £800 million of British taxpayers’ money has been handed over or pledged.

Last year, cross-Channel arrivals fell by a third, but so far this year arrivals are up 41 percent compared to the same period in 2023. Yesterday’s images showed how previous agreements with France are failing to turn the tide of the Channel crossings.

A group of people believed to be migrants are taken from a Border Police ship to Dover, Kent, on May 24.

Since the government struck the Rwanda deal more than two years ago, more than 80,000 migrants have arrived in Britain after crossing the Channel. Pictured: A group of people believed to be migrants are taken to Dover, Kent.

Keir Starmer (pictured in Portsmouth today) made the blunt accusation as Labor desperately tries to limit the damage from the head-to-head clash on ITV

On the beach of Gravelines at 9:15 am, about ten migrants – young men – were up to their knees in the sea. Police arrived quickly, but left the migrants in shallow water for over half an hour while they waited for their ‘taxi boat’.

Agents are not allowed to intercept people or boats even in ankle-deep water. A police chief on the scene told us: ‘The boat was already in the water – and so were the migrants. So we couldn’t touch them.

‘When we used to find them with their boats in the dunes, it was much easier, we just cut the rubber boats open with knives.’

Up to 18 officers stood between another 20 migrants on the beach – including women, a young girl and an armed toddler – and those in the water.

Officers were able to stop the women and children, but the rest simply ran into the waves and stood laughing and shouting as they waited for their ‘taxi’, which arrived at 9.45am.

Those already on the dinghy towed the waiting passengers, only half in life jackets, aboard and then set sail for Dover.

But after 15 minutes they were back. About half a dozen passengers, worried about a hissing flat tire, were nonchalantly returned to shore before the rest departed.

Police made the migrants wait in shallow water for over half an hour while they waited for their ‘taxi boat’

Officers were able to stop the women and children, but the rest simply ran into the waves and stood laughing and shouting as they waited for their ‘taxi’, which arrived at 9.45am.

Those already on the dinghy towed the waiting passengers, only half in life jackets, on board and then set sail for Dover

Nearly 11,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel on small boats since January 1

A Police Nationale commander, who did not want to be named, said: ‘Our senior officers have told us: ‘Don’t go into the water, even if they are only up to their ankles.’

“It’s because we can make it dangerous for the migrants and we have to protect human lives. We can’t arrest them, they haven’t committed a crime.’

Those left on the leaking taxi boat were on British soil last night – with a photographer in Dover catching the migrants being brought ashore after being picked up by a British rescue ship.

A Labor spokesman said: ‘Criminal gangs have endangered lives and made millions in profit for too long. Tory gimmicks haven’t solved this. Labour’s Border Security Command will deploy powerful new counter-terrorism powers.”