UK Extends France Beach Patrol Deal

0:00It's March 31st. Europe news today starts now, AI-powered and pan-European. I'm Cory with the story. Home Secretary Shabbana Mahmoud just inked a two-month extension on the UK's beach patrol deal with France right before it was set to expire at Midnight Wednesday. This keeps French officers patrolling the shores to stop small bow crossings, funded by 16.2 million pounds from the UK as part of a bigger near 500 million pound package. Earlier this week, talks were heating up for a fresh agreement after the old Tory deal from 2023, which paid for a new detention center, and hundreds more law enforcement on French beaches. But crossings keep climbing, with 41,472 arrivals last year alone. Folks are fired up on all sides. Mahmoud says they've already blocked 42,000 attempts, and she's pushing hard for performance clauses tying cash to boats actually stopped. France's junior sea minister hit back, warning against risky efficiency demands that could

1:02endanger lives, stressing rescue comes first. Oppositions not holding back either. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp calls it, paying two million a week for failure, blames labor for record highs of 45% since the hang election, and pushes leaving the European Convention on Human Rights for real deterrents. Nadja Farage echoes that, saying no fix till we ditch the ECHR. So far this year, 4,441 have made it across, and with negotiations rolling, Mahmoud vows whatever it takes to lock down. The borders while this extension buys time for a stronger pact.