Hundreds of migrants have crossed the Channel this morning, dwarfing the number that could be sent back to France under Sir Keir Starmer’s new deal with Emmanuel Macron.
French police failed to stop hundreds of asylum seekers from making the crossing as the Prime Minister welcomed the French president to No 10 for last-minute negotiations on a “one in, one out” arrangement.
Asylum seekers waved to The Telegraph and made peace signs from aboard a black inflatable dinghy as it travelled down the coast of Gravelines beach, south-east of Calais, just after dawn on Thursday.
The passengers were mostly young men of East African origin. The group was thought to have camped overnight in sand dunes approximately 300 metres from the shoreline before boarding the vessel at 5.10am.
Three French national police officers watched as the dinghy, which was crammed with 50 passengers, nearly all wearing orange life jackets, sailed unhindered north-east in the direction of Dover.
