The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will set out plans today to create a "migrant impact fund" for areas like Kent that are having to cope with large numbers of migrants.

In his keynote speech to the Labour party conference, he will try to allay concerns that the party is soft on immigration, an issue which has cost it support in the county and lies at the heart of what has been dubbed Labour's "Southern Discomfort" in the region.

At the same time, he will underline his views about the positive impact migrants have had and will refuse to set any target to curb numbers - a position likely to prove contentious even within his own party.

Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Calais migrant camp was a scar on the conscience of both the French and UK governments.

She told the conference: "On sanctuary for children, we are not doing enough.

"Calais has 10,000 adults and 1,000 children; lorry drivers are facing intimidation and serious threats; children are victims of violence. This is a shameful failure of the French authorities to d their basic duty to keep children safe."

She added that Britain was also failing, saying that of the 20,000 Syrian refugees the UK had agreed to accept over the next few years, just 3,000 had come.

The French President Francois Hollande became the latest French politician to pledge to dismantle the Calais camp when he visited the northern town this week - a pledge that drew short shrift from the Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke.

FOLLOW our political editor @PaulOnPolitics for live coverage of the speech at 2.30pm