Emmanuel Macron is reportedly set to reject calls from Rishi Sunak to return small boat asylum seekers to France. The Independent says that the French president will not publicly embarrass the Prime Minister over the issue when they meet in Paris today (February March 10) but after his calls for more safe and legal routes to the UK were ignored, he is not willing to change French policy.
The Independent says that sources made clear Mr Macron had not wavered in his position ahead of the first UK-France summit in five years. The French diplomatic source said that Mr Sunak’s newly unveiled plan to turn away all migrants on small boats had not persuaded Paris to change its stance.
And, in a reference to calls for more small boats to be stopped before they leave French beaches, the source added: “You can’t solve the issue only with more police on the coast.”
