UK’s new PM touts migrant cooperation after meeting with Macron
Sharm El-Sheikh, The Gulf Observer: Britain’s new prime minister Rishi Sunak on Monday vowed imminent action on cross-Channel migrants after his first face-to-face meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Sunak has taken a much more positive tone towards Macron than his short-lived predecessor Liz Truss, who infamously refused to say whether the president was a friend or foe.
“It was great to meet President Macron to talk about not just tackling illegal migration but the range of other areas in which we want to cooperate closely with the French on,” he told UK media.
“You will hear more details about that in the coming weeks as those conversations happen amongst all our teams.
Some 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, with predictions numbers could hit 50,000 or even 60,000 by the year-end.
Sunak insisted his beleaguered interior minister, Suella Braverman, was getting to grips with the crisis, while stressing it lacked “one simple solution that’s going to solve it overnight”.
They also discussed climate commitments at COP and the war in Ukraine, agreeing to support the “vital needs” of the Ukrainian armed forces through the winter months, the Elysee said.
