France accuses Patel of blackmail in row over Channel migrants
Priti Patel has been accused by France’s interior minister of plotting financial blackmail and a violation of international maritime law in a deepening diplomatic row over efforts to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel by boat.
Gérald Darmanin said that UK plans, released on Wednesday night, to send back boats of vulnerable people into French waters would not be accepted by his government.
France will not accept any practice that breaks maritime law, nor any financial blackmail, Darmanin wrote on Twitter. Britain’s commitments must be respected. I said this clearly to my counterpart” during a meeting on Wednesday, he added.
Johnson’s official spokesman rejected the claims of financial blackmail and said the government had provided our French counterparts significant sums of mon...