£44 million for Channel border security

An extra £44.5 million is to be spent improving Channel border security, the UK government is to announce. The money will be spent on fencing, CCTV and infrared detection technology in Calais and other border points. The announcement comes as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the UK for a summit with Prime Minister Theresa May. Britain is also expected to commit to taking more migrants from Calais, especially unaccompanied children, the BBC has said. Britain and France are working closely together in confronting the shared threat of terrorist attacks inspired or directed by so-called Islamic State. This is the first ever meeting of ‘The Quint’ - the heads of all five British and French spy agencies, both domestic and foreign. They will be discussing, among other things, lessons learnt from last year’s terror attacks in Manchester, Barcelona and London. The UK government is already thought to have spent over £100 million on security in the area over the last three years, and officials said the number of illegal attempts to enter the UK fell from 80,000 in 2015 to just over 30,000 last year. A government spokesperson said: “Just as we invest in our borders around the rest of the UK, it is only right that we constantly monitor whether there is more we can be doing at the UK border controls in France and Belgium to ensure they are as secure as possible.”