France has uninvited Priti Patel from a meeting on the migrant crossings this weekend in response to Boris’s public letter proposing ways in which the crisis might be resolved, including joint or reciprocal patrols on both countries’ coastlines. The meeting will still go ahead on Sunday with other European ministers.
In a furious statement released this morning, the French Interior Ministry said:
“We consider the British Prime Minister’s public letter unacceptable and contrary to our discussions between counterparts. Therefore, Priti Patel is no longer invited on Sunday to the inter-ministerial meeting whose format will be: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and European Commission.”
UK officials were also scheduled to meet French counterparts later today, although it’s not yet known if those meetings will still go ahead. Sacré bleu…