Brexit 'could lead to Calais Jungle camp moving to UK'
Campaigners for Brexit have rubbished claims the so-called "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais could move to the British side of the English Channel if the UK chooses to leave the European Union.
Emmanuel Macron, the French finance minister, said a so-called Brexit could end an agreement between the two countries that allows UK border officials to conduct checks on the French side of the border.
"The day this relationship unravels, migrants will no longer be in Calais," he told the Financial Times (£).
Mr Macron also said France would roll out a "red carpet" to London's bankers if the UK voted to leave the EU.
While Prime Minister David Cameron appeared to welcome the intervention from Mr Macron, London Mayor and Brexit supporter Boris Johnson dismissed the claims as "scaremongering."
And the Vote Leave campaign said there was "no more chance of shifting Calais camps to UK than a refugee camp springing up outside of Terminal 5 at Heathrow"
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, said: “These ludicrous claims are simply not backed up by evidence, logic or French self-interest.
"Such a conveniently timed intervention smacks of desperation from the UK Government, which has failed to renegotiate our relationship with the EU and is now failing to make a positive case for remaining in the EU.
"There’s no more chance of shifting the Calais camps to the UK than there is of a refugee camp springing up outside of Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
"If we Vote Leave we can take back control of our borders and spend our money on our priorities.”
Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Chris Grayling, who is also campaigning for Leave, pointed to recent comments by French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who said that dropping the border co-operation with Britain would be "foolhardy".
In the House of Commons, Conservative MP Peter Bone asked Mr Grayling about Mr Macron's suggestion that 4,000 inhabitants of The Jungle would be "put in rubber boats and come across to Britain" - something which he said the French should be "ashamed" about.
The Leader of the Commons responded: "Of course I have heard in the last couple of weeks the French interior minister reassure us that the bilateral agreement that exists between the United Kingdom and France over border controls is one that the French government would not wish to put at risk."
The French home secretary Bernard Cazeneuve later told ITV News Deputy Political Chris Ship that Mr Macron was acting beyond his finance brief in discussing the future of Calais.
David Cameron, though, said such advice from an ally should be treated seriously.
Mr Cameron spoke after meeting with Francois Hollande to discuss the refugee crisis among other topics at a one-day summit in France.
Last month Mr Cameron warned "any number" of French politicians would take the chance to scrap cross-Channel border controls if the Out side won the referendum on June 23.
Thousands of migrants are in Calais waiting to come to the UK.
Fierce clashes broke out at a migrant camp in Calais known as the "Jungle" on Monday when French demolition teams attempted to dismantle parts of the camp.