French to 'change rules' on small boats, Cooper claims

French police will intervene to stop migrants getting on to small boats when they're in the water after the UK "persuaded France to change its rules", the home secretary has said.

- HOLLY BANCROFT SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

Yvette Cooper said yesterday that smugglers are using the dinghies as “taxies”, launching much further up the French coast and then travelling down to beaches closer to the UK to pick up migrants.

Migrants then wade or swim out to clamber aboard the small boats in the water, rather than getting on the dinghy from the beach. These tactics have been particularly effective at evading the French police, as the authorities currently don’t intervene once migrants are in the water, Ms Cooper explained.

The home secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK has recently “persuaded France to change its rules”. The French have agreed to intervene once migrants are in the water to stop the crossings, but the plan has yet to be put into action, Ms Cooper added.