Yvette Cooper hails new French tactics to reduce Channel crossings | Immigration and asylum

Yvette Cooper has lauded new tactics used by the French to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats, before Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the UK this week, during which new initiatives are likely to be announced.

It is understood that a French review of how police could intervene to block boats that are already in the water has been completed, and French and British officials were continuing talks this weekend about what more could be done.

In a departure from their usual practice of not trying to stop boats already in the water, on Friday French police used knives to puncture a boat in shallow seas near Boulogne, in northern France.

If the legal review offers more scope for such direct action, it is possible that French patrol boats could intercept craft carrying…