'It's safer now to cross the Channel than ever'

THE French are handing out lifejackets to migrants and escorting them across the Channel because the small boats crisis has become too big to handle, it was claimed yesterday.

- By Michael Knowles Home Affairs Editor

Fisherman Matt Coker said he has heard officials from France and the UK discussing the distribution of lifejackets on his radio.

And he believes they are trying to make the crossings safer because they know they cannot stop the growing numbers of migrants risking their lives to get to Britain.

More than 7,200 migrants have so far crossed the Channel in 2025, a record number for the first three months of a year.

Mr Coker, a deep-sea angler, has witnessed many making the perilous journey and said the French navy is escorting small boats through busy shipping lanes before handing them over to officers from the UK Border Force at sea.

He believes the crisis has worsened considerably in the last six months, with smugglers launching “lots of boats all at the same time... on every possible day”.

He added: “The French, they’re giving them lifejackets now because so many of them are not getting in the boats with lifejackets. I suppose they’re trying to avoid another tragedy. And then they ask for the lifejackets back off the British once they’ve picked them up.