Revealed: How France locks down its own borders while Britain's are flung open to small boats

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Emmanuel Macron is keeping his own frontiers under control while his police let thousands of boats reach Britain

Small boat arrivals are continuing at a higher rate under Andy Burnham than under Sir Keir Starmer - despite how Britain hands France hundreds of millions of pounds a year to stop them.

Just days ago, GB News revealed how a mega dinghy sailed across the waves to the South Coast.

And yesterday, Britain's News Channel exposed how Mr Burnham's small boats record is worse than Sir Keir's in his first three weeks in No10.

But while the country battles a spiralling migrant crisis, France has locked down its own borders.

As a result, GB News is looking into the ways Emmanuel Macron is keeping his own frontiers under control.

France has reintroduced controls at its internal Schengen borders - and has long demanded a stronger "external" border around the whole of the EU.

The current rule runs from May 1 to October 31 and covers its land, air and sea borders with neighbouring Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.

French officials have specifically cited illegal migration and migrant-smuggling networks as reasons for the controls.

The country already has the power to refuse entry to anyone who doesn't meet entry requirements - for example, someone lacking the necessary passport or visa.

But in recent months, France has held firm on border control in the face of the rollout of the EU's controversial new Entry/Exit System (EES).

The European Commission has demanded that France phases out its internal Schengen border checks because the digital EES is meant to "handle security".

The Conseil d'Etat, a French Government body, dismissed concerns over the Schengen borders from a number of French organisations.

Explaining its reasons, the body said: “The Conseil d'Etat indicated that the decision to reinstate border checks was warranted due to significant threats to public order and internal security related to the risk of terrorism and the operations of criminal smuggling networks facilitating illegal migration flows in northern France.

“The Schengen regulations identify 'terrorism' and 'major organised crime' as grounds for the temporary reintroduction of border checks.”

They concluded that the criminal threats to France caused by illegal migration and terrorism, warranted the the new crackdown.

Following the crisis in Ceuta, Mr Macron and his Interior Minister Laurent Nunez have taken a firm stance on internal EU borders.

While Italy and Spain clashed in public after the invasion, France temporarily tightened its border with Spain - with few complaints.

Though for much longer, France's Italian border has seen particularly heavy enforcement.

Last May, then-Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau revealed that the frontier had been reinforced with border police, gendarmes, customs officers and soldiers from Operation Sentinelle, backed by an additional CRS riot-police company.

France also runs joint patrols with Italy and uses formal procedures to readmit migrants intercepted after crossing from Italy.

Train crossings through the Alps are frequently halted in the countryside before reaching any French settlements so authorities can seize suspects trying to get into France by rail.

Mr Retailleau went further, telling the Senate that France had "locked down" the Alpes-Maritimes section of the Italian border.

France also confirmed this year that when an illegal migrant is intercepted at its Spanish or Italian borders, it uses a formal readmission procedure with the neighbouring country.

In a blow to Brexiteers, sending a return from France to the UK constitutes an international export into a "third country" - and is why the "one-in, one-out" deal exists, while returns deals are much easier inside the EU.

The Interior Minister said 66 per cent of French readmission requests at the Spanish border were accepted, with the same arrangement in place at the Italian border.