Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed a “groundbreaking” one in, one out migration deal – just hours after hundreds made the perilous journey across the English Channel to the UK.
At the end of a historic three-day state visit by the French president, he and the prime minister announced a pilot scheme which could see around 50 illegal migrants arriving in small boats returned to France each week in exchange for asylum seekers being held there.
But just hours earlier, around 220 people, including 70 in one boat, were brought to shore in Dover by Border Force officials.
The deal is a personal victory for Sir Keir, who has vowed to “smash the gangs” that bring migrants to the UK, and said the agreement would "finally turn the tables" on the crisis.
But critics, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who was on a boat in the Channel filming illegal migrants on Thursday, warned that the deal would not go far enough when around 800 people week on average arrive in the UK via small boats.
Meanwhile, migrant charities warned it would be Labour’s version of the disastrous Rwanda scheme to deport asylum seekers to the African country, which sank the Tories.
However, Mr Macron warned that the entire crisis resulted from Brexit, whose supporters, he noted, had promised would end the problem of migration.
He said: “The British people were sold a lie that the problem was Europe. For the first time in nine years, Britain is being pragmatic.”
He noted that taking the UK out of the EU had closed legal routes in and out of Britain for asylum seekers when one-third of illegal migrants in Europe’s Schengen area “want to come to the UK”.
Both the PM and Mr Macron hailed the deal as the first of its kind. One that would help break the deadlock that has seen at least 20,000 illegal migrants cross the Channel this year alone.
Sir Keir said: “There is no silver bullet here, but with a united effort, new tactics and a new level of intent, we can finally turn the tables.
“So I am pleased to announce our agreement today on a groundbreaking returns pilot. For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order.”
The prime minister told a joint press conference: “In exchange for every return, a different individual will be allowed to come here via a safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally.
“This will show others trying to make the same journey that it will be in vain, and the jobs they have 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.
“This is our plan together ... 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 failure, detention and return.
“The president and I have agreed that this pilot will be implemented in the coming weeks.”
Explaining why the UK would accept migrants from the EU in exchange for sending some back, Sir Keir said: “I know some people will still ask, why should we take anyone in? So let me address that directly.
“We accept genuine asylum seekers because it is right that we offer a haven to those in most dire need.
“But there is also ... something more practical, which is that we simply cannot solve a challenge like stopping the boats by acting alone and telling our allies that we won’t play ball.
“That is why today’s agreement is so important, because we will solve this, like so many of our problems, by working together.”
Taking aim at Mr Farage, the PM noted that “easy answers do not solve the problems” and pointed out that while he and Mr Macron were trying to find a solution, “others were taking pictures of the migrants”.
Posting on X/Twitter, the Reform leader led the attacks on the deal: “This agreement is a humiliation for Brexit Britain. We have acted today as an EU member and bowed down to an arrogant French president.”
But there were also concerns from campaigners.
Steve Smith, chief executive of the charity Care4Calais, said: “This has the potential to be the Labour government’s Rwanda. A grubby deal between two governments that trades human lives. A deal that will likely be expensive, will make life harder for people who seek safety in the UK, but ultimately will do nothing to tackle the root cause of Channel crossings – a lack of safe routes.
“In opposition, Keir Starmer railed against Tory gimmicks. Now he’s creating his own. The ‘new enforcement tactics’ he lauds will only risk more lives as French police hostility, such as intercepting boats in the water, forces people to take ever dangerous measures in order to seek sanctuary in the UK.”
Both Sir Keir and Mr Macron also announced major deals on the economy and defence, including an agreement to link nuclear deterrents for the first time.
They also signed off on plans to set up a “coalition of the willing” headquarters in Paris to provide troops for a post-ceasefire force in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Mr Macron called on France and the UK to shoulder the defence of Europe together.
Sir Keir said: “I know the focus is on the deal on irregular migrants, but don’t underestimate the importance of this deal [on nuclear deterrents].”
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