Priti Patel

Ministers today insisted France will get £54million of funding for the Channel migrant operation - blaming 'administrative' issues for the delay. Despite Priti Patel threatening to withhold the money unless Paris stepped up efforts to limit the flow, security minister Damian Hinds said it will be paid 'in the coming weeks. He denied there was any 'political question' over paying the cash, insisting the 'administrative process' had just taken time to work through. But France has been making veiled threats about its activities to quell the problem, with interior minister Gerald Darmanin complaining that 'not one euro has been paid' of the pledged funds. It comes after Border Force officers have detained 1,568 migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats in just four days as the crisis continues. People smugglers took advantage of calm seas before the weather closes in to make dozens of crossings. And today, around 20 to 30 migrants were brought into Dover (pictured) although official figures have yet to be confirmed. On Thursday 89 were intercepted before 624 were detained on Friday. But over the weekend 491 migrants were intercepted on Saturday and a further 364 on Sunday. It takes the total so far in October to 1,568 after a spell of two weeks where weather conditions were too rough for inflatables to attempt the 21 mile treacherous crossing. In September there were a record 4,646 detained. Official figures take the number detained so far this year to 18,641....read