Writing in the Daily Mail, the Clacton MP said: “What Starmer should have done yesterday is to stand up for the national interest and say that Britain will not accept any migrant who crosses the Channel: they will be deported back to their home countries, and if necessary, to France.
“The irony of Starmer announcing his new ‘deal’ with Macron at the same time the French navy were escorting illegal migrants into our waters will not be lost on millions of voters.
“Quite frankly, this situation cannot be allowed to continue: our national security, as much as anything else, depends on it. Just a few weeks ago, three Iranian terrorists who planned to blow up the Israeli embassy in London and cause mass loss of life were arrested on terrorism charges amid claims they had all crossed the English Channel.
“I firmly believe that none of the 74 young men I saw in that boat yesterday morning (only four were women and children) should be allowed to roam the streets of Britain over the coming days.
“They should all be detained, and we should find out who they are and where they come from.”
In a video posted on X from his day on the Channel, Mr Farage said it was the “usual drill” as he watched a small boat make the perilous journey.
He said: “A dinghy has left the French beaches, being escorted over by the French navy, we can see the Border Force vessel waiting on the 12-mile line for the handover.
“Looks to be about 70 people in the boat, the French navy has now stopped and this boat is right on the edge of French and British waters and Border Force are waiting just behind me. We’re watching one government politely handing over to another government.
“Seventy-eight people, one woman, three kids and 74 young adult males whose identity we do not know. If this is not a national security emergency, I don’t know what is.”
Sir Keir hailed his agreement as “groundbreaking” at a joint press conference with the French President yesterday as Mr Macron blamed Brexit for fuelling Channel crossings.
He said the pilot scheme would mean “for the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order”.
It will “show others trying to make the same journey that it will be in vain” and represents “a real breakthrough in the way that we tackle the vile trade of people smuggling”, Sir Keir added.
Some 21,117 migrants have made the crossing so far in 2025 which is a record for this point in a year, with more making the journey as the two leaders met on Thursday.
