French presidential hopeful Alain Juppe said that he would push to move the border with Britain from Calais to southern England, a sign of the increasing pressure facing London after the Brexit vote, the Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.
In 2003, Britain and France signed an agreement which allows British officials to check passports in France and vice versa, effectively pushing the British frontier onto mainland France.
This led to migrants trying to reach British shores congregating in Calais.
“The first thing is to denounce the Le Touquet accords,” Juppe said of the accords which established the current border control system.
“We cannot accept making the selection on French territory of people that Britain does or doesn’t want. It’s up to Britain to do that job,” he said.
Juppe is on course to win the centre-right’s presidential ticket and polls show he is in a strong position to win an election due in spring next year.
Reuters