- Negotiations for a new £650 million agreement between the UK and France to prevent small boat crossings in the Channel have reached a standstill.
- The current £475 million deal, signed in 2023, is set to expire at midnight on Tuesday, with talks continuing to secure a new three-year funding package.
- The UK's Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is reportedly demanding stricter conditions that would link the release of funds to France achieving a certain interception rate for crossings.
- French officials have opposed linking funding to interception rates, arguing it could endanger migrants' lives, while current figures show France intercepts 33 per cent of crossings.
- Further sticking points include the UK rejecting requests to pay staff salaries for a new detention centre in Dunkirk, which Britain wants completed this year, and conflicting reports on the state of negotiations from French and British sources.
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