Keir Starmer met with Macron today to discuss migration (Image: Getty)

       Keir Starmer’s official spokesman has insisted that the Prime Minister’s migrant deal with Emmanuel Macron will be more successful than the Tories’ planned Rwanda scheme. Speaking to journalists this lunchtime, the spokesman was asked whether deporting migrants to France will be a better deterrent than the threat of deporting migrants to the developing African nation.

       He insisted: “What is a deterrent is clearly a system that works, not one where you spend ￡700m to remove just four volunteers. That is not a deterrent. What is a deterrent is a properly functioning asylum system, one where people are removed. We’ve seen nearly 30,000 people removed since the election, we’re focused on the borders bill and introducing counter-terror style powers. A properly functioning system is a deterrent, not one which removes four volunteers.”

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       The Prime Minister is already under fire after it emerged he may fall far short of securing his desired one-in-one-out deal with President Macron.

       French media have claimed that Mr Macron, who is in Britain for a state visit, may only agree to a deal for 50 Channel migrants to be returned to France every week.

       This would amount to 17 migrants entering Britain illegally for every one returned over the Channel. Le Monde, the respected French newspaper, reported this morning: “The number of people affected would be symbolic, at the highest of around 50 returns to France per week.”

       The news was met with disbelief last night, with two former Home Secretaries emerged this evening to pan the deal, with James Cleverly branding Sir Keir: "Pathetic!"

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       Mr Cleverly added: "The French do not do favours, they are tough negotiators who act in their national interest. I respect that.

       "Starmer expected favours, wouldn’t recognise the national interest if it sat on him, and couldn’t negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag.”

       His predecessor at the Home Office, Suella Braverman, simply reacted: "This is ridiculous. The ratio should be 170 out for every 1 in.”

       Meanwhile, the Tories' serving Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp blasted: "If this is true it amounts to only around 5% of arrivals in the last year. That means 95% of those crossing get to stay, and so there will be no deterrent effect whatsoever."

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       This lunchtime Sir Keir’s official spokesman refused to say whether the reported 50 per-week figure was correct, promising answers would come at the Macron-Starmer press conference later this afternoon.

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       Following a bilateral meeting between the two leaders in No. 10 yesterday, a Downing Street spokesman said they: “Agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

       “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.”

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