Burnham and Macron discuss border security and closer Europe-UK ties

Andy Burnham used his first official meeting with a European leader as British prime minister to tackle migration, Ukraine, trade and defense with Emmanuel Macron.

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The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together.

The talks at Downing Street focused heavily on small boats crossing the English Channel. The two leaders discussed shared challenges, including the emerging use of “mega dinghies” to transport undocumented migrants and asylum seekers to England’s south coast, according to the British government.

London said small-boat arrivals had fallen to their lowest level since 2020, but insisted it would continue targeting the criminal gangs facilitating what it called dangerous crossings. France will deploy a 45-officer surge team to western French beaches in the coming weeks, building on an April agreement aimed at curbing unauthorized crossings.

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A very important moment

“The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together,” Burnham said. Macron described the meeting as “a very important moment” for bilateral relations and said he came with “a willingness and a commitment to get closer and closer”.

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A willingness and a commitment to get closer and closer

Burnham is also seeking stronger cooperation with Europe to help revive sluggish domestic growth. He has said Britain must be “bolder” in moving closer to the EU, while rejecting a return to the bloc’s single market, customs union or internal freedom-of-movement rules. The British government warned that the EU’s Made in Europe agenda could create “significant challenges for UK industry”, particularly the struggling steel sector. The leaders also discussed possible local assembly lines in Ukraine for the SCALP long-range missile, which uses British technology, and reviewed last week’s Coalition of the Willing meeting in Kyiv.

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Bolder