Brexit: French presidential hopeful Alain Juppé says border control should move back to UK soil

French presidential front runner and Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppé has said he would scrap the Touquet agreement, which allows Britain to carry out its border checks on French soil, following Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU).

Many French politicians have called for a new deal in which Britain's border controls are moved back to UK soil. Of prime concern is the so-called Calais Jungle, the migrant camp near the Calais access point to the Channel Tunnel.

Under the 2003 Le Touquet treaty, British border guards are allowed to check for illegal immigrants stowing away on lorries, cars and trains before they head through the Channel Tunnel and on to ferries. Migrants, some fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have massed in their thousands on the French cost with the hope of making their way into the UK.

Juppé: Border treaty 'up for negotiation'

Juppé on Monday (4 July) offered the UK hope it can negotiate over the issue of free movement of people under a new post-Brexit deal with the EU bloc, but that he would likely move the border with UK back on British soil. The Financial Times quoted Juppé as saying everything was "up for negotiation."

"We need to find ways to co-operate, to find a solution to have the UK in the European market, one way or another - whether that is part of the European Economic Area or something else," he said.

"The logic requires that border controls take place on British soil," the Republicains party was quoted as saying. "We must move the border back to where it belongs."

The end of the agreement could see migrant camps in Calais moved to Kent.