Britain will pay France over 500 million euros over the next three years to fund a massive effort aimed at combating illegal migration.
That from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to strengthen military ties between the two countries.
"If we're honest, the relationship between our two countries has had its challenges," says British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
But the challenges are now a thing of the past as French President Emmanuel Macron greeted Sunak at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
That's where the two leaders sat down for the first face-to-face summit since 2018 after relations between the two countries soured over post-Brexit issues.
The two leaders agreed to bolster military cooperation by sending more weapons to Kyiv.
But their biggest achievement is a 543-million-euro deal to stop migrants from getting to the U.K. in small boats.
This includes a new detention centre in France and hundreds of extra French law enforcement officers.
That's in addition to better surveillance technology like drones and cooperation with other countries close to routes favoured by migrants.
Britain has already given over 250 million pounds in funding to French authorities in the last decade to control immigration.
The deal, as part of Sunak's campaign pledge, comes after a staggering 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel illegally last year.
While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists the deal will work, Macron made it clear Britain must also work with the European Union.
"Not an agreement between the U.K. and France, but an agreement between the U.K. and the EU, because the Dublin agreement are no more in a situation to be implemented, so this is something now to be negotiated," said French President Emmanuel Macron.
But the deal has stirred up a hornet's nest in Britain, where former England captain Gary Lineker was removed as presenter for BBC's Match Of The Day.
This after he accused the home secretary of using Nazi-like language in her new immigration policy.
Now, pundits and other presenters are pulling out in solidarity.
While the home secretary insists she's innocent, critics admit, it's a brazen assault on freedom of speech.
Alastair Campbell, Former Downing Street Director of Communications, waded in, "I think it's a bad decision, and I think it's a dangerous decision, because this isn't about Gary Lineker, this is about BBC, and I'm afraid it's pandering and cowering in the face of creeping right-wing authoritarianism inside the government."
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