France border must move from Calais back to Dover, says French presidential hopeful Alain Juppé

Next Frontier: Migrants attempt to board trucks lining up to enter the Channel Tunnel in Calais
AP

A frontrunner to be the next French president today said the border with Britain should be moved from Calais back to Dover, sparking warnings of a surge in the number of migrants arriving in the UK.

Former prime minister Alain Juppé, who is seen as the likely centre-Right candidate, signalled that if he becomes president he would ditch the Le Touquet agreement under which Britain carries out border controls in France.

Following the Brexit vote, he said: “The logic requires that border controls take place on British soil. We must move the border back to where it belongs.”

Mr Juppé’s comments echo calls from Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, who believes “the British must take the consequences of their choice” and deal with asylum requests in Kent.

Thousands of migrants a year are using the “Jungle” camp in Calais as a staging post to try to sneak into Britain on vehicles crossing the Channel by ferry or on Eurotunnel trains, rather than making asylum claims in France.

Former immigration minister Damian Green, MP for Ashford in Kent, said thousands of migrants had been stopped from reaching the UK due to checks in France, and tearing up the Le Touquet deal would be “extremely bad news for our border control”.

He added: “It would be a worry that far more people would arrive in Dover than do now for the purpose of claiming asylum. This was a warning many of us made during the referendum campaign, that the French would do this. I hope it does not come to pass but I fear it might.”

French president François Hollande has played down concerns that the 2003 border agreement could be scrapped.

But French economy minister Emmanuel Macron, who may challenge Mr Hollande to be the Socialist presidential contender, has said that if Britain votes to leave the EU then “migrants would not be in Calais”.

Bordeaux mayor Mr Juppé said in an interview with the Financial Times that the EU should not try to “punish” Britain after the shock Brexit vote.

The veteran politician, aged 70, appeared to be open to allowing Britain to strike a deal on restricting freedom of movement while also having good access to the single market.

But he urged the Government to press ahead with triggering Article 50 “as soon as possible” to start the process of withdrawal from the European Union.

He said: “When you get divorced, you don’t stay in the same house.”

EU leaders are concerned the Brexit spirit will spread to their countries, including in France where National Front leader Marine Le Pen could do well in the presidential poll next year.

Austria’s highest court last week annulled the result and ordered a re-run of the presidential election that was narrowly lost by the far-Right Freedom Party. Norbert Hofer was beaten by the former leader of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen, by just 30,863 votes.

The Freedom Party successfully challenged the result, arguing that postal votes had been illegally and improperly handled.

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