Keir Starmer‘s big plan to solve the Channel crisis was already threatening to unravel last night.
The Prime Minister and French president Emmanuel Macron announced a ‘one in, one out’ migrant swap deal which was far less ambitious than expected.
Sir Keir claimed the ‘ground-breaking’ pilot scheme would ‘prove the concept that if you come over by small boats, then you will be returned to France‘.
He said it was ‘acutely a crisis for our two nations’, but admitted the scheme may not be a ‘silver bullet’.
And as the Anglo-French summit was being held, hundreds more migrants were crossing the Channel from northern France.
The deal was already looking in peril last night as it emerged:
- The whole agreement has yet to be signed off by Eurocrats, who could block France from entering into a bilateral deal with Britain;
- Small-boat migrants selected for removal to France will be able to launch legal challenges, raising the prospect of cases becoming bogged down in the courts;
- Any individuals sent back will not be detained by the French, leaving them free to try to enter Britain again – possibly seeing a return to the days of migrants hiding in the backs of lorries;
- Expected details of a new agreement to allow French police to intercept migrant boats in the water were missing from yesterday’s announcement;
- Expected details of a new agreement to allow French police to intercept migrant boats in the water were missing from yesterday’s announcement;
- Reform leader Nigel Farage called on the Government to declare a national emergency and intern small-boat migrants.
The Prime Minister and French president Emmanuel Macron announced a ‘one in, one out’ migrant swap deal which was far less ambitious than expected
And as the Anglo-French summit was being held, hundreds more migrants were crossing the Channel from northern France
Since Labour came to power, 44,359 small-boat migrants have reached Dover, including 21,117 so far this year – a 50 per cent leap on the same period last year.
The figures do not include up to 400 arrivals who made it to British soil yesterday, just as the two leaders announced the migrant plan in a press conference.
Insisting it was ‘hard-headed, aggressive action’, Sir Keir said: ‘For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order.
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.’
But the Prime Minister failed to say how quickly migrants will be sent back in total or on a weekly basis when the scheme launches, which he said would be in the ‘coming weeks’.
Mr Macron said the deal needed legal ratification first, without putting a time frame on it.
Earlier reports that up to 50 migrants a week, around one in 17 arrivals, would be sent back to France appeared not to have been signed off by the leaders, as negotiations went down to the wire.
Tories branded the deal a ‘total joke’. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘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.
During the launch at Northwood military headquarters, Mr Macron (pictured with Starmer) said coastal countries such as Spain and Greece would ‘need to agree’ to take migrants returned from the UK from France if they originally entered the continent via such a route
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp (pictured) said: ‘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’
‘Labour promised to ‘smash the gangs’, but 2025 so far has been the worst year in history for illegal immigrants crossing the channel. We’ve had enough of Starmer’s weak and ineffective gimmicks.’
Kent MP Katie Lam added: ‘Keir Starmer’s French ‘deal’ is a total joke.
‘Swapping one of those who arrived on a dinghy for 17 Paris form-fillers won’t deter a single person from illegally and dangerously crossing the Channel.
‘The only thing that will stop this is detention and deportation. Until Labour accepts that simple truth, Britain will remain an easy target.’
During the launch at Northwood military headquarters in Hertfordshire, Mr Macron said coastal countries such as Spain and Greece would ‘need to agree’ to take migrants returned from the UK from France if they originally entered the continent via such a route.
In a joint declaration, the leaders also confirmed that the scheme was ‘subject to approval’ from the European Commission in Brussels.
It is understood that Eurocrats have not yet seen the legal text, but they are likely to sign it off if it does not contain any human rights violations.
If the EU Commission approves the deal, member states will be forced to accept it.
Mr Macron (pictured with Starmer) hailed the plan as ‘collaborative, co-operative and comprehensive’, but went on to blame Brexit for the Channel crisis
Earlier yesterday, Mr Farage watched from a boat as 78 migrants were unloaded from a dinghy to the Border Force catamaran Hurricane in the middle of the Channel
Migrants sit on an inflatable dinghy as it sails along the coastline near Gravelines on Thursday
Mr Macron hailed the plan as ‘collaborative, co-operative and comprehensive’, but went on to blame Brexit for the Channel crisis.
Unable to hide his still-bristling anger at the 2016 Leave vote, he said: ‘Since Brexit, and I’m saying all this quite honestly, I know it’s not your case, Prime Minister, but many people in your country explained that Brexit would make it possible to fight more effectively against illegal immigration.’
Earlier yesterday, Mr Farage watched from a boat as 78 migrants were unloaded from a dinghy to the Border Force catamaran Hurricane in the middle of the Channel.
He said: ‘Some of them may be terrorists, they may commit sexual offences, we just don’t know. What we do know is they are going to be put up at a hotel at our expense and they will probably be working in the gig economy within 48 hours. We just cannot allow that.’
Mr Farage said the Government should declare a ‘national security emergency’ with migrants ‘interned in an old Army camp or wherever’. He described the new deal as ‘farcical’, adding: ‘It is humiliating that Starmer is even considering it.’
Although there remain major questions about the operation of the scheme, a returns agreement does represent a concession by the French.
It follows years of the Elysees refusing to consider such a move when the Conservatives were in power.
Director of migration think-tank British Future, Sunder Katwala, said: ‘At ten times the scale, this deal could start to make a dramatic difference to small-boat numbers and put the smugglers out of business.’
