The Prime Minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

They reflected on the State Visit of the President so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.

The Prime Minister welcomed the news that EDF would take a 12.5% stake in Sizewell C leading to lower bills, more jobs and better energy security for the UK.

The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions. 

The Prime Minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.

Finally, they looked ahead to the 37th UK-France Summit taking place tomorrow and agreed to aim for concrete progress on these areas.