The British and French leaders are set to step up security in the fight against small-boat gangs as they meet in No 10 Downing Street on Thursday.
Andy Burnham will use his first meeting as Prime Minister with another national leader to agree to escalate the bilateral battle against the northward flow illegal immigrants across the English Channel.
President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to deploy “a surge team of 45 officers on France’s western beaches”, according to the UK government, targeting launch sites and “mega dinghies” used by people smugglers to cross the English Channel.
The leaders, who alongside King Charles III met on Wednesday night at the unveiling of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum in London, are also expected to discuss plans for an Anglo-French-led naval mission to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, providing security for commercial shipping as soon as circumstances permit.
But their chief focus will be on migrant crossings, with France tripling policing resources on the coast to combat gangs that have adapted their tactics by moving launch sites to other parts of the French coast.
The two countries are expanding a specialist French intelligence and judicial unit from 18 to 30 officers, while a new 75-strong specialist unit dedicated to combating small boats is now operating in northern France. The total number of French officers deployed to tackle illegal Channel crossings is now around 1,050.
The leaders' meeting comes after a summer in which Britain recorded its lowest number of small boat crossings in seven years.
“The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together,” Mr Burnham said. “But I am clear that we cannot be complacent. Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and the UK and France need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead.”
Britain's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said more than 48,000 attempts to cross the English Channel had been prevented under the £660 million ($890 million) UK-French agreement, which she said was “bearing fruit”.
But the main opposition Conservative party has dismissed the arrangement as a “joke”, alleging that poor weather was primarily responsible for the decline in Channel crossings.
The talks are taking place as the Middle East faces escalation in the war, with the US launching strikes against Iranian targets this week, and Tehran responding with missile and drone attacks against American bases in the region.
President Donald Trump said the renewed US campaign would not continue for “too long”, although he warned his forces were ready to strike Iran again.
“We’re prepared to do another one any time we want,” Mr Trump said, after claiming US forces had destroyed Iranian radar, missile and mine-laying equipment around the Strait of Hormuz.
Ukraine is also expected to feature prominently in the discussions, after Mr Burnham and Mr Macron co-chaired a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing last week.
The two leaders will also discuss the future of the UK's relationship with the European Union, with Mr Burnham expected to argue that closer co-operation with the continent is essential to boosting British growth.
The French government is understood to want to concentrate on defence, the economy and energy before turning to migration and the UK-EU relationship.
