The prime minister and French president Le bromance... but where's le boeuf?
Sunak and Macron are all smiles, handshakes and back rubs but one big question remains: what does Britain really get out of handing France £500m to solve the small boats crisis?
Rishi Sunak agreed to give France nearly half a billion pounds to tackle the small boats crisis as he yesterday hailed a “new beginning” in Anglo-French relations. The cash will help fund a new detention centre near Dunkirk and extra police to prevent migrants crossing the Channel. But critics questioned how it would succeed where previous schemes have failed. It came as Mr Sunak travelled to Paris for a summit with Emmanuel Macron where the PM said they were “writing a new chapter in this relationship”.
But despite the upbeat mood, Mr Macron rejected a “returns” deal in which France would take back those who travel to the UK on small boats. Former cabinet minister Robert Buckland said the announcement was big money: “You would want to see a correlation between that spend and results on the ground.”