Migrant boats will finally be turned around and sent back to France after Priti Patel wins legal backing

BRITAIN will finally turn around small boats in the Channel as ministers get a grip on the migrant crossing crisis.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has won legal backing for Border Force ships to point dinghies back to France for the first time.

Insiders concede only a small number will be returned — but they hope it will still be a vital deterrent to ruthless people-smugglers.

Yesterday the Prime Minister vowed to “use every possible tactic at our disposal” to stop the influx of vessels which are often dangerously packed to the rafters.

Ms Patel has given the go-ahead to the turnaround plan amid another bumper week of illegal migrant crossings and a loss in confidence in France’s ability to stem the tide.

French patrols have been intercepting fewer crossings, despite being funded by the UK taxpayer.

The Sun can reveal the Home Office has legal backing to intercept the packed vessels at sea without breaching international maritime law after working with the Attorney General Michael Ellis.

But insiders say it will apply to only a handful of vessels, as certain legal criteria will have to be met.

Border Force crews are undergoing their final days of training before the policy is implemented by the end of the month.

Commanders will be able to intervene only when they deem it safe to do so, without risking the lives of migrants or their crews.

But The Sun understands the Home Secretary will back them should they decide to turn boats around.

Yesterday Boris Johnson hinted the change will come after it emerged more than 14,000 people had successfully crossed this year.

This week alone has seen more than 1,250 arrivals, with 300 landing just yesterday.

'EVERY POSSIBLE TACTIC'

Mr Johnson told MPs: “We depend to a large extent on what the French are doing.

“But clearly, as time goes on and this problem continues, we are going to have to make sure that we use every possible tactic at our disposal to stop what I think is a vile trade and a manipulation of people’s hopes.”

Downing Street said officials “continually review operational work” in the Channel.

Ms Patel is understood to have told her French counterpart Gérald Darmanin of the plans at a fraught bilateral meeting last night.

She said the “status quo was not working for either the UK or France” and gave him a dressing-down over interception rates.

A government official said: “The Home Secretary said that tackling the scourge of illegal migration and organised criminal networks is a joint challenge that neither country can tackle alone.”

Earlier, Mr Darmanin said a threat to pull funding for its patrols would represent “a serious loss of confidence in our cooperation”.

Proposals to block maritime crossings “would not only be dangerous for men, women and children on board these boats, but contrary to international law”, he added.

Tory MP Natalie Elphicke welcomed the news, saying: “Turning back boats will send the clearest message that enough is enough and illegal migration will not be tolerated.”

However Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont warned that “nothing” can stop them and it was “impossible” for French police to patrol the whole shoreline.

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