Starmer will hold talks with Macron TODAY amid Channel migrants 'blame game' - with 'one in, one out' deal hanging in balance
The PM is hoping the French president will commit to a tougher approach to tackling record crossings during his State Visit to the UK.
However, while stressing the need for cooperation Mr Macron used a speech to both Houses of Parliament last night to swipe at 'pull factors' drawing people towards Britain.
France has long complained that it is too easy for illegal arrivals to work and claim benefits in this country. One of Mr Macron's MPs recently branded the UK an 'El Dorado for migrants'.
The prospects of a so-called 'one in, one out' deal with Paris are also hanging in the balance.
The pact would mean small boat migrants being sent back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link.
Ministers believe the plan could help act as a deterrent, although they acknowledge the scale could be very small initially.
But critics have branded the idea a 'migrant merry-go-round', while the EU commission has intervened to raise concerns that it could cause problems for other member states.
Sir Keir and Mr Macron are expected to use a summit tomorrow to announce plans to step up enforcement on French beaches in return for millions of pounds in extra funding from the UK.
There have been complaints that the £770million handed to Paris for border controls over the past 12 years has achieved little.
In his wide-ranging speech, Mr Macron, said this week would produce 'tangible results' aimed at reducing the flow of illegal arrivals across the Channel.
Mr Macron said Britain and France had a 'shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarityand firmness'.
It was 'legitimate', he said, for migrants to 'hope for a better life elsewhere'. But he said the two countries 'cannot allow' rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with 'so little respect for human life'.
Alongside Downing Street talks, Sir Keir and Mr Macron are also expected to attend a reception with UK and French businesses and an event at the British Museum later.
Their spouses, Brigitte Macron and Lady Victoria Starmer, will have tea and a tour of Downing Street together, followed by all four having lunch.
While they are being hosted by the King at Windsor, the Macrons will lay flowers on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II and see Fabuleu de Maucour, a horse the French president gave Elizabeth in 2022 to mark her Platinum Jubilee.
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