French political leaders being given hundreds of millions of pounds of British taxpayers' cash to stop boat migrants have admitted they have 'no solution' and that extra police funding will 'not change anything'.
In extremely candid remarks, they have criticised a new £662million deal Britain signed with France at the end of last month to stop migrants crossing the Channel. It will see at least 50 riot-trained officers on the beaches and beefed up security.
But the comments are likely to spark fury from British taxpayers and politicians, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp launching a fresh attack on the Government. They come as more than 200,000 have made the journey since 2018.
Alain Boonefaes, a deputy mayor in charge of security in Gravelines, told La Voix Du Nord newspaper: 'The money of the British will be used to secure a sector but we only move the pile of sand.
'It starts from everywhere. It is a subject that must be dealt with at the global level. We have no solution. There will always be an influx of people who want to join the UK.'
Antoine Benoit, the mayor of Audresselles, a commune nine miles west of Calais, was scathing about the extra officers that Britain had funded. He said: 'We have gendarmes driving all night – it will not change anything.'
He said he was 'disillusioned' and added: 'There is no political treatment of the problem. We are not listened to.'
Mr Philp told The Mail on Sunday the comments and funding showed Britain needs to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Migrants boarded a small boat on Dunkirk beach earlier this month as French police watched on
French officers stood on the beach as the migrants made their way on to the boat
He said: 'This confirms what we have known all along. Shabana Mahmood has handed over half a billion pounds of our money to the French, most of it without performance conditions – and it will make no difference whatsoever.
'Last year the French stopped barely a third of embarkation attempts, and even with those the illegal immigrants were released to try again the next day.
'I have even witnessed with my own eyes French police ushering illegal immigrants on to buses headed towards the beaches.
'Illegal immigrants crossing the channel are up 45 per cent since the election and Starmer has presided over more illegal crossings than any Prime Minister in history. We need to leave the ECHR so all illegal immigrants can be deported within a week of arrival. Then the crossings would soon stop.
'That is the Conservative plan, but the Labour government is too weak to do it.'
One Dover-based fisherman said he did not think the French made any 'real' attempt to stop the boats.
He said: 'It won't surprise me if there is not another 200,000. I see the French navy escort the migrants over. There is no deterrent. If they wanted to, I think they could stop it tomorrow. But they don't.'