Customs pressure on Macron

EMMANUEL MACRON will come under intensifying pressure to demand that Britain helps pay for new customs posts in French Channel ports after Brexit, when he visits Calais before meeting Theresa May next month.

Influential local leaders are also expected to urge the French president to renegotiate a bilateral agreement allowing British border controls in northern France.

The region has been struggling for two decades to cope with migrants trying to reach Britain illegally. The crisis has prompted calls for a review of border arrangements by Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-france region, which includes Calais, Boulogne, Dunkirk and the Eurotunnel entrance – backed by Natacha Bouchart, the conservative mayor of Calais.

Mr Bertrand may be able to deliver crucial Channel port votes for Mr Macron, a centrist. The president’s next electoral challenge will be European elections in 2019.

Mrs Bouchart said Mr Macron has promised to visit Calais before the London summit.

She has urged him to visit the area and listen to local concerns before his talks with Mrs May in London.