No 10 slaps down Juppé over border

DOWNING Street last night slapped down the front-runner to be the next French president after he called for border checks to be pushed out of Calais and back to Kent.

Alain Juppé demanded a complete renegotiation of the so-called Le Touquet accord, under which British border officials are based on French soil to stop thousands of would-be illegal migrants sneaking into the UK.

The controversial 71-year-old said: ‘We can’t tolerate what is going on in Calais, the image is disastrous for our country and there are also extremely serious economic and security consequences for the people of Calais.’

A Downing Street source said: ‘This is a long-standing bilateral agreement that works for both sides. We would expect to see it continue.’