Richard Lough

PARIS (Reuters), – France informed Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary, that she was no longer welcome to a meeting regarding the Channel migration crisis. This is after Boris Johnson, British Prime Minster, had criticised Paris’ handling of it.

France was offended by a Johnson letter to President Emmanuel Macron sent on Thursday. Gerald Darmanin, an Interior Minister source said that the letter was “unacceptable” and in contradiction to the spirit of the discussions among partners.

This decision highlighted the weak post-Brexit relationships between the countries as well as the challenges they might face in working together to stop the flow of migrants following Wednesday’s drowning attempt by 27 people to reach British shores.

BFM TV’s Gerald Darmanin, a government spokesperson, said that Darmanin had told his counterpart that she wasn’t welcome anymore.

London expressed hope that Paris will reconsider.

BBC News reported Grant Shapps, Transport Minister at the French Ministry of Transportation that no nation could tackle it alone.

The Channel was the scene of the deaths of seventeen teenagers, seventeen women, and seven men when their dinghy collapsed. It is one among many dangerous journeys made by fleeing from poverty or war, often in small boats.

This was one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, and it was the most tragic such accident ever recorded.

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of France, claimed France is at fault. Gerald Darmanin from France’s Interior Ministry accused Britain “of bad immigration management”.

France and Britain were already at odds over post Brexit trade rules and fishing rights, and the deaths further exacerbated their animosity.

French fishermen prevented a small British cargo ship from arriving in Saint-Malo on Friday. They plan to continue blocking the Channel Tunnel and Calais ports, which are both important hubs of trade between Britain and Europe. [L8N2SH0YE]