PARIS (Reuters) -Record illegal migrant crossings across the English Channel this year showed Brexit had failed to deliver on a British promise of tighter border controls, said French President Emmanuel Macron, adding that British people had been 'sold a lie.'

The Government is making “slow progress” on tackling the migrant small boat Channel crossings crisis, a Cabinet minister admitted. John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said the Government had stopped 12,000 crossings this year and had also deported 30,000 people.

Emmanuel Macron launched a furious attack on Brexit during a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer. The French president blamed the UK's exit from the EU for the Channel crisis as the Prime Minister unveiled a new one-in, one-out migrant returns deal.