from there, alexandra mackenzie reports. on a beach in kent. they arrived on an inflatable boat this morning. they received medical assessments and were questioned by immigration officials. this afternoon, the beach was busy with locals. it is fairly calm today, it is quite mild, but that's just not a crossing that people should be making. the home secretary has spoken to france's interior minister. in a statement, he said... these are the shores that migrants are desperate to reach. but what happens next depends partly on how the problem is tackled across the water in france. here in dunkirk, volunteers help the migrants. it is thought government attempts to clear camps has led to organised crime gangs encouraging many to leave france. in boulogne, locals say boats have been stolen to aid these journeys. translation: here it is very easy to get a boat to go to england. to steal a boat is easier than stealing a car. if you use a professional fishing boat, the maritime authorities think it is a fisherman going fishing. back i

alexandra mackenzie. being attacked outside a house in wigan. he's been named as william livesley, who was 21. a 57—year—old man is in custody. the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, has called on britain to get its act together and stop expecting the eu to solve its brexit problems. mrjuncker said brussels isn't trying to stop the uk leaving, and the eu is ready to open talks on future relations if mps approve the deal it agreed with theresa may. the department for transport has been defending a decision to award a contract for nearly £14 million to a shipping company with no trading record as part of its preparations for a possible no—deal brexit. seaborne freight has been contracted to provide ferries to carry goods vehicles across the channel. our business correspondent joe miller is in ramsgate, from where the company plans to operate its services. just talk us through the background to all of this. over the past couple of months, the department for transport has been quietly awardin

our correspondent, alexandra mackenzie, is at kingsdown for us.t more can you tell us about the six migrants that have been detained this morning and what is happening to them? we know this is the beach where they came ashore this morning around 7:30am this morning. they we re around 7:30am this morning. they were discovered. about a 20 minute from dover we are here. i spoke to a man who was walking his dog this morning, as he does every morning. he said he knew straightaway there was something going on quite different this morning. he looked out to sea and saw a border force cutter and he said it was unusually very close to the shore. he then saw the six men, who we understand are iranian. he said they looked exhausted from theirjourney. they had obviously had a very difficult night even though it is a mild december it would have been very cold out in the channel in the early hours of this morning. we have had a statement from the home office who have confirmed the men are iranian. they said they were initially taken away for that medical examina

our correspondent alexandra mackenzie is in dover. six iranians have arrived on the kent coast. that is correct. the channel has been shrouded in mist this morning and this is one of the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world. as you say there has been an increasing number of migrants attempting to ci’oss number of migrants attempting to cross the channel over november and december, a0 on christmas day alone, the youngest of which was only 18 months old. today we have seen this footage from a member of the public. the footage itself has been unverified but we have had a statement from the home office and that statement has said that the migrants were discovered at 7:30am this morning in kingsdown, not far from dover. the footage shows a dinghy washed up on the beach. there are six migrants. we understand they are six migrants. we understand they are iranian. there are also rescued officials on that footage. as you said, these migrants would have been taken for a medical assessment initially and then they would have been taken to s