James Cleverly hailed “impressive” French efforts on illegal migration as he met his French counterpart in Paris, with the pair promising to build closer ties to tackle crossings in the Channel. The meeting between the home secretary and French interior minister Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday evening (30 January) came as Rishi Sunak hopes to show progress in his promise to “stop the boats”. More than 1,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel, as Mr Cleverly acknowledged that figures were “comparable” to last year.