Hundreds more migrants crossed the Channel to Britain yesterday as Sir Keir Starmer announced a “groundbreaking” pilot scheme with France that will initially see just 50 migrants returned per week.
The Prime Minister struck a deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to implement a “one-in, one-out” arrangement, whereby migrants arriving via small boats will be detained and sent back to France in exchange for Britain accepting asylum seekers with legitimate claims. However, the limited scope of the pilot programme has drawn immediate criticism, with opponents noting it would return just 6 per cent of those crossing illegally.
The announcement came as The Sun sailed to the Channel with Nigel Farage and witnessed the French navy escorting a boatload of 78 migrants into British waters before handing them over to Border Force. The French authorities even demanded lifejackets be returned, ready for the next batch of crossings. Under the new arrangement’s current scale, it would take more than a week to return all those who made yesterday’s journey alone.
Speaking at a joint press conference with President Macron, Sir Keir acknowledged public frustration. Illegal migration is a global crisis and it’s a European crisis but it’s also very acutely a crisis for our two nations, a crisis of law, security, humanity and fairness,” he said. We face a sprawling multi-billion pound enterprise run by criminal gangs leading hundreds of people to their deaths in the Channel.
The Prime Minister insisted the scheme represented “hard-headed, aggressive action on all fronts to break the gangs’ business model, secure our borders and show that attempting to reach the UK by small boat will only end in detention, failure and return.” In an exclusive interview with The Sun following the announcement, Sir Keir said: “We’ve got the flex to ramp this up.
However, President Macron appeared more cautious, saying the deal had been struck “in principle” but was subject to “legal verifications” and EU sign-off. France would retain the ability to choose whether to accept an individual, with the UK given the same right over who arrives here.
The Home Office confirmed that the 50 migrants per week would be selected mainly from countries deemed safe, with low rates of successful UK asylum claims. The numbers are expected to be limited by available cells in immigration detention centres, which currently have around 2,500 spaces with another 1,000 being added.
Under the arrangement, selected adult migrants will be handed notices informing them they are due to be sent back to France, potentially via chartered flights or 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.
Critics have been quick to highlight the scheme’s limitations. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour’s limp returns deal will only remove one in every 17 illegal immigrants arriving. Allowing 94 per cent of illegal immigrants to stay will make no difference whatsoever and have no deterrent effect.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who witnessed yesterday’s Channel crossings first-hand, was even more scathing. This agreement is a humiliation for Brexit Britain. We have acted today as an EU member and bowed down to an arrogant French president,” he said. Sir Keir hit back, accusing Farage of milking the small boats issue and only wanting to “take pictures” rather than solve the problem.
The limited scale becomes apparent when considering the numbers. More than 21,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year – a 56 per cent rise on the same period in 2024. Since Labour took power last July, more than 44,000 have arrived via small boats. The 50-per-week trial agreement equates to just 2,600 returns annually.
Financial concerns have also emerged, with Sir Keir warning the new deal would involve “financial arrangements” which could go beyond the £771million Britain has already handed to France since 2018. When pressed on costs, the Prime Minister said negotiations were ongoing but stressed the importance of securing borders.
French officials expressed their own reservations. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said she was “truly very angry” at the deal as she will “soon be dealing with the problem of returns.” An unnamed French official involved in the talks told Le Monde: “We are putting ourselves into the hands of the British without minimal reciprocal elements.
The deal could potentially face legal challenges under the UN Refugee Convention, which mandates asylum seekers‘ rights to request protection. Officials admitted those selected for deportation would be able to wage lengthy court appeals, similar to battles over the axed Conservative Rwanda scheme.
European Union countries have also raised concerns. Leaders from Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus – the so-called Med5 group – wrote to the European Commission voicing their objection to the proposal. They fear France could use existing EU rules allowing asylum seekers to be returned to their first country of entry, effectively passing on migrants taken from the UK to their nations.
President Macron added fuel to the controversy by blaming Brexit for the surge in boat crossings. The British people were sold a lie about immigration,” he said. It’s in fact since Brexit [that] the UK has no migratory agreement with the EU. It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit promised.
The announcement followed dramatic scenes in the Channel yesterday morning. Speaking to GB News from his boat, Farage described watching a “classic day in the English Channel” as French authorities escorted migrants to the 12-mile line for handover to UK Border Force.
We’ve paid £800million to the French, and this is the farce that goes on,” Farage said, calling for the money to be refunded. He added: “You might as well have a sign on the White Cliffs of Dover which says ‘everyone welcome’. No one gets deported.”
Sir Keir appeared to acknowledge the political stakes, telling The Sun: “It’s really important we make progress on that, and I don’t shy away from that for a moment, because we must have control of our borders.” He added that he knew he had to deliver for the British people on living standards and public services.
As calm weather conditions continue to facilitate crossings, the pressure on the Government intensifies. The pilot scheme, when it launches in the coming weeks, will be closely watched to see whether it can achieve any meaningful deterrent effect or whether, as critics suggest, it represents merely a symbolic gesture in the face of an overwhelming crisis.
For now, the boats continue to come, the costs continue to mount, and the political row over how to stop them shows no sign of abating.
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Image Credit:
Border Force Patrol Vessel off Preston Sands – Photo by Kevan Dickin, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
