France has shown that it is no longer our ally

WITH the recent sad loss of 27 lives at sea, I do not consider France to be allies of Britain.

Recent photographs show French police standing by and doing nothing whilst boatloads of migrants take to the sea, taking a perilous risk to reach England.

For a long while criminals in France have been cashing in on migrants and have been violent towards them, demanding payment. There has been no attempt to catch these people.

The reason so many people are risking their lives is that in France the government does not care about them and they live in squalid conditions, whereas when they reach here they are looked after and rehoused.

Also, we must remember the amount of times lifeboats have to be launched to rescue these people, as the lifeboatmen and women are volunteers and do not get much rest.

Another thing which is brewing is the blocking of ports in France by fishermen, which delays working lorry drivers. There is no attempt to remove these protestors by the police and I expect further protests from them.

France should be an ally, but they have shown they are not.

DA Cookson,