France to begin intercepting small boats in Channel after UK pressure

France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French security forces have been authorized to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.

French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both officers and civilians.

"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."

Now, a French maritime police spokesperson states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.

Significantly, the official excluded the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential method to disable the propellers of the vessels.

The decision to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official departed from government.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were observed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.

Now French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the past.

The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for response.

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