Nigel Farage is spot on - the French are nothing more than a taxi service for illegals

There was the usual social media sneering last week, as Nigel Farage took to the English Channel to watch the "Uber-style boat taxi" - better known as our Border Force and the French Navy - in action. Just 200 yards from the Reform UK leader, a crowded dinghy drew alongside the Border Force cutter Hurricane and 78 migrants were handed over.

Earlier, Mr Farage had watched as a French naval vessel escorted the craft to the edge of British waters for the handover. Staggeringly, the French ship sent a message asking for the return of 40 life jackets it had lent the migrants! Normally they are sent back from Dover. Yes, you read that correctly. What a joke!

And all this happened during a three-day state visit on which President Emmanuel Macron was swanning around London, while the UK and French governments were meant to be negotiating a solution.

You might have expected the French to keep a lid on the problem for a day or two. Talk about zut alors! Mr Farage told journalists it was a "classic demonstration of what is happening on every good weather day in the Channel" as he blasted the obvious and glib co-operation between the French and British governments.

"What is happening - what we have seen this morning - is a crime, yet everyone seems happy," he said. "The French have got their life jackets back so they're happy. The Border Force are happy. And the 78 people on board the dinghy are happy because they're now headed for a comfy life at our expense."

The Reform leader rightly pointed out that - despite handing the French £800million since 2014 - their Navy and coastguard is effectively "aiding and abetting criminal gangs" by bringing illegal migrants into UK waters. Quelle surprise, the French President blamed Brexit for the small boats chaos, but that's besides the point.

This is a foreign government facilitating the breaking of our borders. I'm not sure what that's got to do with Brexit. We need to start turning back these boats as a matter of urgency. The so-called deal announced last week is laughable. Once again, the politicians are having a huge joke at

Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent days. My heart goes out to the innocent people affected; lives and home and businesses being lost.

But looking at this from afar, it seems yet more sign that Putin's men are in fact losing the war. There's very little advantage to be gained for Russia and, though morale is undoubtedly under pressure in cities like Kyiv, I believe the Ukrainians can take the onslaught. Just as Britons survived the Blitz during the Second World War. I don't doubt their resolve and determination.

Russia is a country in crisis, its economy is tanking, and much of it is geared towards weapon-making anyway. If the Western powers could come up with more sanctions - and properly enforce them - I think it would all collapse. And sooner rather than later.

It's been another tough week but I'm still here. Thanks again for all your lovely messages. But thanks most of all to my family and especially Lady W for keeping me going. Thanks also for listening to our podcast, Tales of the Whales.

We've been trying to share tips and advice for others going through our struggle. If we can pass on even a tiny bit of advice that helps someone else then it's all worth it. But remember, give your support and cash, if you can afford it, to charities that are searching for a cure for cancer and supporting patients.

We've got to defeat this terrible disease in all its awful forms and I've no doubt science will get there in the end!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It's been reported that Noel Gallagher is to donate a "large" sum of his Oasis reunion tour earnings to Teenage Cancer Trust. I really hope that's true and if it is, that's Supersonic sir! And may I add: please give as much as you can.

Knowing your donation may save countless young people's lives now or in the future will make you feel richer than the purchase of any mansion or Bentley.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Angela Rayner has been stripped of her Unite union membership for criticising its members in over their long-running Birmingham bin strike. It's a start, I suppose. If only Labour could entirely cut its links to the unions, it'd be a far more effective party and we might have a government that wasn't quite so beholden to its paymasters!