Keir Starmer announces small boats returns deal

       Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” plan to end the small boats crisis has been branded a failure by the officials employed to carry it out. Speaking today as small-boat migrants continued to pour into Dover, the body representing immigration staff said the deal struck by Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron was only “scratching a very bare minimum of the surface”.

       Immigration Services Union spokesperson Lucy Moreton said: “We need to be able to go a lot further if it’s going to do anything other than simply put more money into criminal gangs.” The union represents staff in Home Office agencies including Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and UK Visas and Immigration. Doubts were also raised about whether the scheme would go ahead at all, as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper admitted the European Union had “concerns” about the policy - which requires the “legal verification” of the European Commission and EU states.

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       Migrants laugh at UK as they pile into Dover hours after Starmer-Macron deal

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       A group of people are brought in to Dover from a Border Force vessel on July 11 (Image: PA)

       She revealed the UK and France had been trying to win support from EU commissioners since October, and insisted: “We have been talking to the EU commissioners. We’ve also been talking to other European interior ministers and governments throughout this process.

       “The French interior minister and I have been speaking about this to develop this since October of last year, and the EU commissioners have been very supportive.

       “So that is why we have designed this in a way to work, not just for the UK and France, but in order to fit with all their concerns as well.”

       The Home Secretary refused to deny reports that only 50 migrants per week would be returned to France at first, a fraction of those arriving, saying the numbers are “not fixed”.

       Under the deal agreed between France and the UK, small boat arrivals will be returned to France and an equal number of migrants seeking asylum will be able to come to the UK from France through a new legal route – fully documented and subject to strict security checks.

       However the plan has raised concerns in Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, which are often the first European countries where migrants from Africa and the Middle East arrived before making the trek to the UK. They fear that it will ultimately mean would-be asylum seekers are returned to their countries.

       Reform leader Nigel Farage predicted that nobody will actually be removed from the UK under the scheme. He said: “In truth, I doubt anybody will actually be deported under this new agreement, because whatever is agreed between the French president and the British Prime Minister will be undermined by our being a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, now enshrined in our law by Tony Blair’s Human Rights Act 1998.

       “One thing I do predict - this will be a field day for our country’s Left-wing lawyers. Any deportations will be held up in the courts.”

       And shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the deal was a “gimmick” which will be “no deterrent whatsoever”.

       He said: “It is astonishing that the Home Secretary can’t even say how many migrants will be deported under Labour’s migrant surrender deal. This is another example of why Labour is not serious about stopping the boats.

       “Labour scrapped the Rwanda plan and replaced it with a weak, PR-driven stunt that lets 94% of illegal migrants stay. It’s a green light to the gangs and a betrayal of the public.

       “Illegal crossings are at record highs and Labour’s soft-touch approach is failing fast. Only the Conservatives will bring real border control through our Deportations Bill.”

       The announcement on Thursday, when Sir Keir and President Macron presided over a joint press conference, failed to stem the flow of cross-Channel migrant as more arrived in Dover this morning. People wearing life jackets were seen being brought ashore after making the dangerous journey from France.

       Some 21,690 migrants have made the crossing in small boats so far in 2025, an average of 782 every week, in what is a record for this point in a year.

       Some 573 migrants arrived in the UK on Thursday after crossing the English Channel, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

       The cumulative number of arrivals in 2025 now stands at a provisional total of 21,690. This is 54% higher than at the same point last year, when the total stood at 14,058, and 65% higher than at this stage in 2023, when the total was 13,110. There were 10 boats that arrived on Thursday, which suggests an average of around 57 people per boat.

       The new deal with France is due to come into effect within weeks and the Government insists that while the numbers sent back across the Channel may be low at first, they will increase over time.

       Under the new UK-France pilot, asylum seekers in France will be able to submit an Expression of Interest application and the Home Office will make a decision once they have undergone biometric checks. However, anyone who had arrived by small boat and returned to France will not be eligible for the legal route to the UK.

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       Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “This groundbreaking deal is a crucial further step in turning the tide on illegal small boat crossings and restoring order to our immigration system.

       “For the first time illegal migrants will be sent back to France – targeting the heart of these gangs’ business model and sending a clear message that these life-threatening journeys are pointless.

       “By resetting our relationships across Europe we’ve made levels of co-operation possible never seen before. This is about grip not gimmicks, and what serious government looks like – taking down these criminal enterprises piece by piece as we secure our borders through my Plan for Change.”

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