Keir Starmer has admitted his “one in, one out” deal with France has failed to stop small boat crossings. He admitted the number of cross-Channel migrants returned to France was “low” – and said “we need to ramp that up”. The Prime Minister conceded that what the deal had achieved so far was to “prove the concept” rather than end the crossings.
Sir Keir signed the agreement with France’s President Emmanuel Macron in July, The deal was supposed to mean that small boat arrivals were returned to France and an equal number of migrants would be able to come to the UK from France through a new legal route – fully documented and subject to strict security checks.
Sir Keir said at the time: “This ground-breaking deal is a crucial further step in turning the tide on illegal small boat crossings and restoring order to our immigration system.”
But since then, only six small boat migrants have been sent from the UK back to France, including an Afghan and a Somali who were sent to the continent on Thursday morning, while 11,866 people have made the crossing in a small boat from France to the UK.
And questioned by GB News, Sir Keir said; “The returns agreement with France is important because we need to establish that if you come by boat, you will be returned to France. I accept the numbers are low.
“We had to prove the concept and prove that it could work. We’ve now done that. But now we need to ramp that up.”
The Prime Minister also pledged to cut legal immigration, saying: “Immigration went up fourfold under the Conservatives in five short years. It’s unbelievable. And we are bringing it down. You’ve seen those numbers coming down.
“Of course, it’s right to say that many people come here to contribute to our society, but the numbers need to come down and we’re bringing them down.”
Sir Keir told GB News he would not resign and intended to lead Labour into the next election.
“We had an election last July. I led my party to a landslide victory, and I never pretended and never said that we could undo 14 years of failure in 12 short months.
“It was always going to take longer than that. I will lead my party into the next election and I will be judged at that election; on whether living standards have gone up, people feel better off, whether public services are better, particularly the NHS, and whether people feel more safe and secure in their neighborhood and in their country, rightly judged against those tests when it gets to the next election.”
