PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer was accused of endangering children’s lives today after No 10 welcomed TV broadcasts of French police officers knifing inflatable boats crossing the Channel.

Refugee charity Care4Calais said “we will consider all our options to stop that brutality” after Downing Street claimed Britain’s “reset” with Europe was behind the change in French tactics, which were off the coast of Boulogne.

Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said: “These images of French police officers slashing boats that are already in the water, with children visibly on board and crying, should send shivers down the spines of everyone who holds onto a shred of decency and compassion.

“Yet our Prime Minister’s spokesperson has welcomed these actions. It is utterly shameful.

“These actions must be opposed — and stopped. Slashing boats in the water will put lives at risk, including the lives of children. We will consider all our options to stop that brutality.”

Kate O’Neill, advocacy co-ordinator for Project Play, a charity operating in northern France, warned it was a “dangerous” tactic as children were “often in the middle of the boats.”

Responding to footage of the incident broadcast by the BBC, she added: “The events taking place in the BBC coverage are not only upsetting to watch, but show clear evidence of police officers endangering a child.”

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also welcomed the reports, adding that all migrants who arrive on an overcrowded boat where a child has died should face prosecution.

Refugee Council’s Imran Hussain said: “It is vital we see an end to people dying at sea, but criminalising men, women and children forced on desperate journeys because they are fleeing oppressive regimes like the Taliban and brutal civil wars in countries like Sudan is not the answer. 

“Rather than getting side-tracked by trying to criminalise the victims of the smugglers, the government must move from an enforcement-only to a multi-pronged approach which includes international co-operation and ensuring refugees can access safe and legal pathways. 

“In the same way Ukrainians have been able to travel to Britain without having to take a dangerous journey, we need more safe, legal and orderly routes for refugees.”