UK-France summit.

‘We should contribute to that’ ( suzied)
Yes, we already are contributing...a lot

MaizieD not it isn’t racism, or xenophobia ( do you know the difference btw?)
It’s simply what each country has to do to maintain borders

Immigrants at Calais waiting to jump on lorries do not have EU passports, they are on French soil, and are trying on illegal behaviour .....plenty of reasons for the French police and immigration people to stop them.
If they have been offered homes in France and then refuse them it is up to France.

The French police do stop them. If you drive up to Calais you see huge numbers of CRS police and their vans. Inside the port you pass through the French border first and then the UK border. Both forces search cars. There are also large numbers of police in the ports where you leave crossing French border controls only. Security is extremely tight.
I do about 6 to 8 return crossings a year using different ports and I see a thorough checks and a big police presence; far more than there used to be.
I just don't know where the idea is coming from that the French aren't doing enough.

Perhaps they are now *Mamie, but the question is should they be asking for yet more money.

The problem is caused by people trying to get to the UK, so yes it seems to me that it is reasonable for the UK to contribute to the costs of infrastructure and policing. Protecting the safety of lorry drivers and goods bound for the UK is a big part of it and it seems unreasonable to expect the French to be entirely responsible.

MaizieD you are asking me why does the UK not take responsibility for these people. We have just pledged another 45 million.
I would like to ask you what do you want to happen to these people, let them all come over here, send them back to their country of birth where eventually they will just make their way back to Calais. Build a camp in Calais feed and clothe them so they can try their luck again getting on another lorry and contaminating its load. What. Open borders.

Yes they are illegal, there are violent criminal people smuggling gangs helping transport these people, thousands of them are in the UK right now having entered in the back of lorries, yes it’s in our interests to try and stop them , and we should be supporting those countries bearing the brunt of refugees. We should work with all the countries in Europe to halt this human trafficking. It cannot be just seen as a problem for just one state. If we want to beef up security in Calais to protect British transport and legitimate travellers then we should definitely pay our share and not expect others to do it all.

My feelings exactly suzied. I've travelled through Calais and was amazed that the French are actually allowing the controls to happen on their soil on our behalf. They could have just allowed all who managed to get through to the UK to do so and we can only imagine what we would be dealing with by now.

Suzie and Ginny - I agree with you both.

Sorry Ginny but what does “they could have just allowed all who managed to get through to the UK side to do so” actually mean?
Do you mean that French border control should not do the job they are paid for?
Should the ferry companies wave people without tickets and passports through and accept the huge fines imposed on them?
The juxtaposed controls are nothing to do with the migrant crisis, they exist to speed up the travel process in the interests of both countries. That is why the French border controls are also in Dover and London.
The money needs to go to safeguard the port and the people who use it, I really don't see the relevance of the location of border controls.

I don't know if people are aware but there are small groups of migrants in some of the other ports along the French coast (we see them when we go shopping at the one near us). There is a constant gendarmerie presence around the town and very tight security at the ferry port. The only border is the French one, the UK border is in England. I very much doubt that anyone gets through.

It clearly matters a great deal to the French who are coping with the massive numbers of travelling people seeking to reach the UK. We are paying them to contain the situation before immigrants can reach our shores; we are not dealing with their physical presence in anything like the numbers they are in France. The worst of it has not been happening on our physical border. We should be very grateful for that.

We are!
But we already pay a lot, and have just promised a lot more, rightly or wrongly.
Some good things about being an island.

Indeed we are Ginny (I am a French tax payer), but what I am saying is that the location of UK border controls is not the main issue. The problems occur in the French towns, in the approach to the port and in the rest areas of the autoroutes. I think the UK absolutely should be continuing to pay to help manage the problem, but people continually focussing on the location of border controls takes attention away from the real issues.

I am also hugely impressed by the efforts made by professionals and volunteers at our local centre here in Normandy to support people from the old Calais camp in settling in our local area.

MaizieD you are asking me why does the UK not take responsibility for these people. We have just pledged another 45 million.

Well, I wasn't asking you that at all, ninny. I was querying your assertion that they weren't our problem.

However, you seem to have acknowledged that they are our problem by not objecting to our govt pledging £45 million to France to help finance border arrangements and deal with the refugees/immigrants. So that's OK, then.

If we didn't have all that water between us and the continent we'd have to be coping with them in just the same way that our European counterparts are..

Thousands have got through to the UK in the last 20 + years. Ask anyone who lives near Dover. There have been several cases where up to 50 people have been found in back of lorries, just think of the numbers who have not been discovered. One of my GC school went on a day trip to Boulogne recently. When they got back to the school and the luggage hold of the coach was opened - a young man jumped out and ran down the road! Thing is, once they are here, the authorities are so stretched very little is done about processing them properly. The reason people keep coming to Calais is that they know of numerous others who have got through. People traffickers are making fortunes, and the closer we can work with the French to tackle the issue the better.

Surely the whole situation will sort itself once we’ve left the EU? We’re apparently all going to hell in a handcart so why would anyone want to come here?

'Immigrants at Calais waiting to jump on lorries do not have EU passports, they are on French soil, and are trying on illegal behaviour .....plenty of reasons for the French police and immigration people to stop them.
If they have been offered homes in France and then refuse them it is up to France.'

France is working very hard to stop them coming to the UK- as part of our reciprocal agreements with the EU. Once this is over- there is absolutely NO reason why the French should allow the UK to have the UK border checks IN FRANCE, BEFORE the crossing. UK border checks will have to move to Dover or Fokestone (where???) - and why should the French and Calais people want to stop them coming over to UK- if that is where the migrants want to go? What would be their incentive - pray tell? As far as they are concerned- the sooner the better ... Can't you see that?

Anyone who understand French- do watche the wonderful French film about Calais migrants 'Welcome' - a wonderful, poignant and very sad film.

Do remember that the Channel is VERY narrow- people can even swim across, and think about Dunkerke- tiny boats can get across too. Same from Holland... the coast is VERY long.

We’re apparently all going to hell in a handcart so why would anyone want to come here?

They've heard we're getting blue passports, Nfk, what more could anyone want?

SIL is a lorry driver, the Belgian Police forces have asked them to no longer park in the lorry parks on the main roads here, as gangs of migrants are targetting any lorries. Even trying to force drivers to travel to the UK.
This can cause serious problems for drivers who need to stop due to reaching the end of drive times.
How much is it going to cost to Police every parking area, and why should people doing their jobs be put under such threat.
We hear lots about France but little about the problems here on the UK news.

There is a lot of anti-Brexit news which is never broadcast on U.K. TV - censorship is working well in the U.K.!

Maisie

Well of course there is Welshwife since France is in the EU and a big player, along with the UK and Germany, France will have to pay far more in the future for the costs of the EU and all the projects to come!
You didn’t really think it was they love us so much did you?
We are leaving their club and taking our money with us.