Starmer announces UK-France 'one in, one out' migration deal as dozens of small boats seen in Channel amid crunch talks
Sir Keir Starmer has announced a “one in, one out” migration deal with France, but scores of migrants in small boats were spotted in the Channel as the Prime Minister held crunch talks with Emmanuel Macron.
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Sir Keir held a press conference with the French President on Thursday as the two leaders pledged to tackle the "global crisis" of illegal migration.
The PM announced his "one in, one out" deal as a "groundbreaking" agreement, which will allow illegal migrants to be returned to France quickly in exchange for someone legally allowed to live in the UK.
He said the agreement will come into force in the coming weeks in the form of a pilot test.
Migrants arriving by small boat will be "detained and returned to France in short order", Sir Keir added.
But as he announced the deal, scores of migrants were seen attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.
UK authorities were reportedly issued by the French of 18 attempted crossings on Thursday morning.
Five of those were filled with up to 90 migrants that managed to evade police, The Telegraph reports.
But in once instance, the French navy escorted up to 78 migrants who had reached British waters before passing them over to Border Force, according to The Sun.
According to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who was at the scene, it marked a "classic demonstration of what is happening on every good weather day in the Channel".
The UK should continue to accept legitimate asylum seekers, the PM added, but all those arriving must be subject to "strict security checks."
Sir Keir told the joint press conference: “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 else, 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.”
Macron said a deal has stalled in the past due to Brexit, saying the British public was "sold a lie" during the 2016 referendum.
“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," he said.
“But it’s in fact since Brexit (that) the UK has no migratory agreement with the EU.”He added: “It creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised.
”Referring to “renewed trust” between the UK and Europe after Brexit, he later said the British people were “sold a lie…which is that the problem was Europe, but the problem has become Brexit”.
He added: “With your Government, we’re pragmatic, and for the first time in nine years, we’re providing a response.”
President Macron said he is “totally committed” to the plans to tackle small boat crossings.
The French president said there should be “no finger pointing” between France and the UK regarding any issues in addressing migration.
On the pilot for returning migrants, Mr Macron said: “I’m totally committed to make it work, because this is clearly our willingness and our common interest.”He added that the point of the pilot was a “deterrence” effect.
Away from migration, the two leaders announced closer security ties through the combination of the UK and France's nuclear deterrents.
“Now as Europe’s only nuclear powers and as leaders in Nato, we play a vital role in preserving the peace and security on this continent," Sir Keir said.
"So today, we’ve updated the historic Lancaster House treaty to protect our people and our way of work.“This is a major modernisation.
“We are overhauling combined joint expeditionary force to make it five times larger, 50,000 troops strong, able to act across every domain.
“But with going further, this morning, we signed the Northwood Declaration, confirming for the first time that we are coordinating our independent nuclear deterrents.
“From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations.”
The pair also held talks between members of the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" regarding the war in Ukraine, with the United States in attendance.
Sir Keir Starmer added: “We’ve strengthened our work to stand together for European security and in support of Ukraine, because I’m clear, the security of the British people starts in Ukraine.
“We have just co-chaired a meeting of the Coalition for the Willing, including representatives from the United States for the first time.
“We announced plans for a new multinational force Ukraine headquartered in Paris, so that we’re ready to support a peace deal when it comes but while (Vladimir) Putin turns his back on peace, we are running more support for Ukraine right now to defend their people and force Putin to the table.”
Speaking after the Prime Minister, President Macron said there is a determination" to support Ukraine and as he described today's summit as a "show of unity".
However, he admitted the deal requires the “legal verification” of the European Commission and EU states, some of which have already opposed to the idea France taking migrants back from the UK.