Brexit means you chose to give up migrant returns, France tells Boris Johnson

The Élysée Palace reacted fiercely to Mr Johnson’s three-page letter of proposals for reducing the number of boats launched from France, which was sent to Mr Macron on Thursday night.

Number 10 figures argued the letter had been written in a “constructive” manner and insisted Mr Johnson did not regret the UK’s departure from the EU.

Mr Johnson’s letter had five proposals, which included officials from both countries joining forces to patrol French beaches and a “returns” agreement for France to take back migrants who reach English shores by boat.

Gabriel Attal, the French government spokesman, said during a television interview about the letter: “We are fed up with double-talk,” adding that it was “both poor in substance and totally inappropriate in style”.

At the heart of some of the criticism from France was the suggestion that the UK had chosen Brexit with a promise to “take back control” of its borders, but was now trying to readopt an EU measure it had left behind.

While in the EU, the UK had benefited from the Dublin Regulation, which dictates that an asylum seeker should normally have their application processed in the first EU country they arrived in.

Mr Johnson’s suggestion that a bilateral “returns agreement” should be signed with France, whereby migrants who arrive on UK shores after crossing the Channel should be returned to France, is seen by critics as an attempt to establish a version of the Dublin Regulation.