Priti Patel slaps down Macron and her own colleague over migrants' boats in Channel

Tory ministers were at war today over whether Royal Navy ships would intercept migrants’ inflatables in the English Channel.

Home Secretary Priti Patel slapped down Defence Minister James Heappey, who previously claimed naval vessels would not intercept the dinghies bringing migrants through the Dover Strait.

She insisted plans were still being drawn up for how navy boats would deal with migrants making the perilous crossing.

She told the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee “operational” details were being developed.

“The work isn’t complete so it’s totally inappropriate for me to comment on operational planning on what either the Navy or Border Force will be doing,” she told MPs.

A child is carried by his father as a group of migrants await immigration officers after arriving at Dungeness, Kent (Getty Images)

Committee member Diane Abbott, a former Shadow Home Secretary, told Ms Patel: “It’s extraordinary that the Armed Forces Minister can be clear on these matters but you can’t.”

Committee chairwoman Diana Johnson asked if Mr Heappey had misled Parliament.

But Ms Patel insisted: “He didn’t mislead anyone.”

The Home Secretary also lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron.

He had claimed British immigration rules encouraged migrants to risk their lives crossing the Channel.

Mr Macron reportedly told French newspaper La Voix du Nord that the UK economy relied on low-paid, “illegal” immigrant labour.

Emmanuel Macron reportedly said Britain's system "manages economic immigration through hypocrisy" (Getty Images)

“The British continue to have a system from the 1980s which manages economic immigration through hypocrisy.

“There is no legal immigration route,” he is quoted as saying, adding: “The British must articulate their needs in terms of the economy and reopen a path to legal asylum requests. We are going to step up the pressure.”

But Ms Patel stormed: “Macron’s comments are wrong. They’re absolutely wrong. So, let me be very, very clear about that.

“Alongside that, I should also say that the French government, the entire French government – both the interior minister and President Macron – are fully aware through the very good work, actually, that our ambassador in Paris and her team does, in terms of number one: the co-operation that we have to have with France to combat the dangerous and unnecessary crossings, dealing with illegal migration, but also working with like-minded partners across Europe.

“So, those comments are just … wrong.”