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SIR Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced today a one-in-one-out arrangement to return small boat migrants to France. However, this plan will address only 50 migrants per week.
The Prime Minister praised the “groundbreaking” scheme as “aggressive,” while acknowledging it is a pilot initiative addressing just a small portion of Channel-crossing attempts daily.
During a joint press conference with the French President, Sir Keir confirmed that, in return for sending unlawful migrants back, the UK would accept asylum seekers from Calais who have “legitimate claims” and family ties in Britain.
Only those who haven’t tried to enter the country illegally before will be eligible for the scheme, which will come into force “in weeks”.
The PM hailed the plan as “hard-headed, aggressive action” and boasted that “previous governments tried and failed to secure results like this”.
But the agreement is the equivalent of just 2,600 returns annually (50 a week), compared with the 44,000 who have arrived since Labour took power a year ago.
And this year alone more than 21,117 migrants have crossed the Channel – a 56 per cent rise on the same period in 2024.
Revealed in the Plan:
- Migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order
- A one-in, one-out system will operate with migrants sent back to France in exchange for asylum seekers
- The plan is merely a pilot scheme – which could be canned if it doesn’t work
- Only 50 a week will be sent packing – a fraction of the thousands crossing into the UK
The announcement was also made on the same day as hundreds more migrants crossed the Channel – with photos showing them waving from packed boats.
And at the same time as The Sun’s political correspondent watched in horror with Nigel Farage as the French handed 78 migrants to UK Border Force.
At the Northwood Military Headquarters in Hertfordshire Sir Keir and Mr Macron insisted the deal would help break the business model of the smuggling gangs, with migrants unwilling to pay thousands for a crossing if they could be sent straight back.
But Sir Keir admitted the new deal won’t necessarily end the crisis, saying: “There is no silver bullet here”.
And tonight it was revealed the plan could descend into a legal wrangle – with “returned” migrants able to launch lengthy battles through the courts.
It means the system could get bogged down with ongoing legal cases – and the whole plan thwarted in the same way that Rwanda flights were grounded by lefty lawyers.
Responding to the deal, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp blasted: “Labour’s deal will only return one in every 17 illegal immigrants arriving.
“Allowing 94% of illegal immigrants to stay will make no difference whatsoever and have no deterrent effect.
“This is the latest catastrophic example that when Labour negotiates, the UK loses.
“Starmer’s first move in power was to rip up the Illegal Migration Act, scrap the Rwanda deterrent plan, weaken age checks and reopen the path to citizenship for illegal migrants. This is a green light to people smugglers.
“We’ve had enough of Starmer’s weak and ineffective gimmicks.”
TIME TO CRACKDOWN, BUT IS THIS ENOUGH?
By Ryan Sabey, Deputy Political Editor
Sir Keir Starmer has rolled the dice on cutting the number of small boat crossings – but critics will ask whether it will ever be enough.
The Prime Minister talks about a “ground-breaking” system that will send those making the perilous journey to France back where they came.
He hit out at the “megaphone politics” that he says has so far achieved nothing.
It will start with 50 migrants being sent back to France per week at the beginning but that will have to be ramped up. And it will have to be ramped up as soon as possible.
Twenty-thousand migrants have crossed so far this year and it shows no sign of going down anytime soon.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is breathing down his neck and the PM knows he has to solve this problem quick, sharp.
Mr Farage was out in the Channel himself today watching 70 migrants being delivered by the French navy to a waiting Border Force vessel.
Sir Keir hopes that those making those journeys will be “in vain” and he can live up to his election promises to “smash the gangs”.
What won’t be helpful to Sir Keir is French President Emmanuel Macron bringing up Brexit.
The ally blamed leaving the EU on the rise of small boat numbers. It feels that wasn’t part of the script as Sir Keir repeatedly says the issue is settled.
The State Visit has had it all from the pomp and ceremony with the State banquet to the nitty-gritty of negotiations on small boats and the nuclear deterrent.
Mr Farage has already said the UK has “bowed down” to France and a humiliation to “Brexit Britain”.
But for all the glamour of horse-drawn carriages and Elton John attending the big dinner, it will all come down to whether Sir Keir can stop the boats.
The hand-shakes are on display today. For Sir Keir, actions matter, and he can’t afford this to be a cruel summer.
Under the “returns pilot”, for the very first time, small boat migrants will be “detained and returned to France in short order”.
The selected migrants – all adults – will be handed notices informing them that they are due to be sent back to France.
Money for the returns will come from existing Home Office budgets.
In exchange for every return, a different asylum seeker will be allowed into Britain through a “safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks”.
Sir Keir said: “This will show others trying to make the same journey that it will be in vain and the jobs they’ve been promised in the UK will no longer exist because of the nationwide crackdown we’re delivering on illegal working, which is on a completely unprecedented scale.”
Addressing the press conference, Mr Macron couldn’t help a dig at Brexit, blaming the divorce from Europe, rather than lazy French cops, for the surge in channel crossings.
Despite Britain having paid £770 million to border patrol officers in Calais, the French President whinged: “We must above all adapt the response to Brexit.
“It’s that we sold a lie to the British people which is the problem with Europe… The problems become Brexit with your government and for the first time in nine years we’re providing a response.”
The announcement of the deal concludes a three-day State Visit to the UK by Mr Macron, who also dined with King Charles and members of the royal family.
LEGAL BATTLES THREATEN TO THWART PLAN
By Julia Atherley, Home Affairs Correspondent
MIGRANTS selected to be sent back to France will be able to launch lengthy legal battles against their removal.
The group – thought to be around 50 people a week – will be detained at the small boats processing centre in Manston, Kent, within hours of arriving.
The Home Office refused to reveal how they would be selected, but said that they would mainly be from countries deemed safe, with low rates of successful UK asylum claims.
The numbers are expected to be limited by how many cells are available in immigration detention centres, which currently has around 2,500 spaces. Another 1,000 are being added.
Legal battles could thwart the system in the same way that the Rwanda flights were grounded by lefty lawyers.
Labour are believed to be confident that they would win any appeals launched, given the migrants would be being removed to France, which is a safe country.
France will then also have the opportunity to choose if they want them or not.
It is not yet known how they will be returned but it could be by chartered flights or on coaches.
After being transferred to France, they will have access to the French asylum system or could be removed back to their country of origin.
Anyone who comes back across the Channel in a small boat will be removed again and not allowed to claim asylum.
Migrants currently in France will be able to sign up online to be admitted into the UK under the procedure.
Any individual would be subject to full screenings, including having full biometrics taken, before being admitted.
They will also be required to have documents showing their identity. It will be open to all nationalities.
Priority will be given to the nationalities most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs, nationalities with high grant rates and those who have links to the UK.
Anyone who has previously tried to enter the UK illegally – such as by small boat or on the back of a lorry – would be excluded from the scheme.
They would then be transferred to the UK and allowed to claim asylum here.
The Home Office hopes it will be done “as soon as possible” with final legal checks happening now. The project also has to be approved by the European commission.
Earlier today the PM and French President were seen embracing outside Downing Street earlier, with Sir Keir vowing to tackle illegal immigration with “new tactics” and a “new level of intent”.
Mr Macron said the UK and France “share the same will” insisting France will “engage all countries who share a responsibility alongside us”.
It comes after stark images highlighting the small boats crisis were captured this morning with individuals crammed into an inflatable dinghy as it crosses the Channel.
The group, seen wearing life jackets, have one leg hanging over the vessel’s ledge so more people can be packed in.
Nigel Farage was aboard a fishing vessel in the Channel, where he witnessed first-hand 70 migrants being escorted by France into British waters.
The Reform UK leader looked on as a Border Force boat waited for the crammed dinghy to arrive for the handover.
Mr Farage blasted successive UK governments who have handed £750 million to France to deal with the small boats issue – but the crisis continues.
After the deal was struck, Mr Farage said: “This agreement is a humiliation for Brexit Britain.
“We have acted today as an EU member and bowed down to an arrogant French President.”
Labour sees turning the tide on small boats critical to stopping the charge of Reform, with crossings up around 40 per cent on their watch.
A senior Government source said: “The scenes of boats coming day after day are killing us. We can do all the deals we want, but we know we need results.”
It is understood Britain expects the number of returns to be drastically ramped up after a trial period.
But Sir Keir was careful to point out that the scheme is merely a “pilot” at the moment – and one that could, no doubt, be quietly canned if it does not work.
