SIr Keir Starmer was left ‘humiliated’ after French police revealed that they will not routinely slash the boats of people smugglers as they set off to cross Channel.
Only two days ago, No 10 hailed footage showing French officers ripping open a dinghy in shallow waters as a ‘significant moment’ in the bid to smash the people-smuggling gangs.
But last night a senior source working for the Gendarme unit responsible – the Compagnie de Marche – made clear it would ‘by no means’ be a regular tactic.
The source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The slashing of boats will not become routine.’
He added: ‘It was a pragmatic move ultimately aimed at saving lives. We saw the boat was dangerously overcrowded and liable to sink, and so took the decision to rescue everybody on board.
‘This is exactly what happened – nobody was hurt, and the very dangerous boat was confiscated.
‘This was by no means a change in tactics.’
Embarrassingly for the Prime Minister, it comes just days before French president Emmanuel Macron arrives in the UK for a state visit.
Only two days ago, No 10 hailed footage showing French officers ripping open a dinghy in shallow waters as a ‘significant moment’ in the bid to smash the people-smuggling gangs. but a senior source working for the Gendarme unit responsible – the Compagnie de Marche – made clear it would ‘by no means’ be a regular tactic
Cops were shown slashing the dinghy with knives in their latest attempt to foil migrants and refugees from making the perilous crossing
Only yesterday the PM spoke to Mr Macron and raised hopes of making ‘good progress’ on migration and other priorities.
Last night the Tories seized on what they saw as Downing Street’s discomfort.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Only two days ago, No 10 was claiming this as a huge victory. But now they have been humiliated as the new tactic turned out to be a one-off.’
He added: ‘The French appear to have no intention of routinely stopping these boats despite being paid nearly half a billion pounds of British taxpayers’ money.
‘Illegal migration continues to flood into the UK, but Labour has lost control of our borders and has no answers.’
On Friday, No 10 welcomed video footage showing a French ‘gendarme’ destroying an inflatable dinghy off a beach south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The flimsy craft was packed with migrants, who were forced to abandon their crossing as it collapsed into the water.
Downing Street said that it was a ‘significant moment’ that could have ‘a major impact on shutting down the tactics these gangs use’.
Dramatic scenes unfolded on a French beach as cops deflated a boat carrying migrants
All passengers on board made it safely back on the beach as the boat was punctured
A group of migrants walk through the water to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain on July 2
However, unlike regular police in France, gendarmes are military personnel known for more robust tactics than their counterparts in other law and order units.
And a National Police spokesman said that regular officers would ‘continue to follow strict rules that bar them from going into the sea’ in case they put lives at risk.
It follows police trade unionists arguing that interfering with UK-bound migrants in the English Channel could ‘lead to more deaths.’
A senior source at Alliance – the largest police union in the country – said: ‘If there are 80 people on an overcrowded boat, including women and children, then it is extremely dangerous to try to stop them.
‘People can fall in the water, while others resist arrest – the potential for disaster, including further deaths, is immense.
‘Turning us into sea police in this manner is not the way forward.’
It comes as more than 500 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on Friday. Some 517 people came on eight boats, taking the annual total to 21,117, according to news agency PA.
There have been 17 deaths in 2025 alone on the cross-Channel migration route, mainly because of flimsy dinghies overturning or deflating, often very close to the shore.
Procedural changes now being considered in France will instead focus on the use of patrol boats at sea to intercept so-called ‘taxi-boats’.
These are the people-smuggling boats that enter the sea empty from inland waterways and attempt to pick up migrants from the beach.
A French interior ministry source told The MoS: ‘Preventing a taxi boat with one or two people smugglers on board from picking up scores of migrants will be much safer than approaching a boat that is already overcrowded.’
Last night a Home Office source said: ‘We obviously welcome any action French counterparts are able to do. We want to see an end to these dangerous channel crossing.
‘These criminal gangs packing more people into boats are a total disgrace.’
