Small boats crossing the English Channel is a “shared priority that requires shared solutions”, Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer have agreed ahead of a summit between France and Britain.
The Prime Minister and France’s president insisted their two countries “need to go further” to stem the tide of boats making the journey, Downing Street said after the leaders’ held a head-to-head meeting at No 10.
The UK has been pressing for tougher action from the French authorities on the beaches along the English Channel coast, while Mr Macron has suggested Britain needs to make efforts to reduce the “pull factors” attracting migrants.
The Prime Minister welcomed the French president to Downing Street on Wednesday ahead of a full UK-France summit on Thursday involving ministerial teams from both nations.
“The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after the meeting.
They added: “The Prime Minister spoke of his Government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
Both Mr Macron and Sir Keir aim for “concrete progress” on the matter at Thursday’s summit, No 10 indicated, as well as on other joint working, like support for Ukraine.
Following their meeting, the two leaders visited the British Museum, where they celebrated plans for a cultural exchange of some the UK and France’s most historic artefacts.
The Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the Norman conquest of England, will be loaned to the British Museum in exchange for the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo burial treasures as part of the swap.
Speaking at the central London museum, the Prime Minister said the world is now entering an era of “huge change and turmoil” when the alliance between France and the UK is “more important than ever”.
The Prime Minister hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey challenged the PM to stop handing over money to the French unless they agreed to “a returns deal and doing their bit to stop the boats”.
Sir Keir told him: “We’re working closely with the French on this issue, we’ll only provide funding that delivers for our priorities.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told Sir Keir: “The country demands that you say to the French president ‘we will not accept undocumented males across the English Channel’ and that you are not dictated to by an increasingly arrogant, anti-Brexit French president.”
In a speech to MPs and peers on Tuesday, Mr Macron promised to deliver on measures to cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries.
But he also stressed that Britain and France would “only arrive at the lasting and effective solution” if they addressed the “pull factors” encouraging people to make the journey across the Channel.
The number of people crossing the English Channel so far in 2025 now stands at more than 21,000, a record for this point in a year.
