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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Macron blames Starmer for migrant crisis
Emmanuel Macron is demanding that Sir Keir Starmer make Britain less appealing to Channel migrants to secure a ' one in, one out deal '. The French president believes the UK bears the blame for record numbers of small boats crossing the Channel and has three key demands to reduce its 'pull factors'. Mr Macron, who arrived in Britain on Tuesday for the first state visit by a European head of state since Brexit, was due to announce the new agreement with the Prime Minister at an Anglo-French summit on Thursday. A deal with Paris would allow Britain to legally return illegal Channel migrants to France for the first time since Brexit. But Sir Keir is scrambling to rescue the pact after five EU member states bearing the brunt of European arrivals raised concerns that a deal would see them forced to take more migrants. The Telegraph understands that Mr Macron wants Sir Keir to crack down on the UK's black market for labour and welfare payments and make family reunification for genuine asylum seekers easier as conditions for the deal. An Elysée source warned that Mr Macron expected measures 'addressing the root causes of the factors that attract people to the United Kingdom', adding: 'These causes must also be addressed by the British.' They added that France would be willing to discuss ways to stop more small boats leaving its shores during the Anglo-French summit on Thursday. Mr Macron's allies have said the ease in which migrants can get under-the-table employment means Britain is viewed as 'an El Dorado' – a city of riches, where it is easy to work. The demands emerged as Mr Macron enjoyed a day rich with pomp and pageantry during a visit celebrating what the Elysée called a 'pragmatic rapprochement'. After being greeted at RAF Northolt by the Prince and Princess of Wales and treated to a royal procession, he addressed Parliament before the King hosted a state banquet in his honour in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening. Starmer must address 'pull factors' In Westminster in the afternoon, Mr Macron went public with his concerns, telling an audience including Sir Keir that the British Government would have to address 'pull factors' to drive down migrant numbers. Channel crossings have hit a record high this year with 20,600 migrants so far, the highest since the first arrivals in 2018. Mr Macron said that a third of migrants entering the EU's Schengen area illegally were aiming for the UK as their final destination. He said: 'France and the United Kingdom have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness.' The president added: 'We will only arrive at a lasting and effective solution with action at the European level [...] as well as addressing migration pull factors. 'But let's be clear we will deliver together, as this is a clear issue for our countries.' He also warned that French and British societies risk 'growing apart' and that Brexit was a 'regrettable' decision, although he said he respected it. Mr Macron is making three demands to Sir Keir to get their 'one in, one out' deal over the line in time for Thursday. The French president wants to make it harder for illegal immigrants to work in Britain. While asylum seekers are not allowed to work legally, the French view is there are not enough controls to prevent them from doing so. The gig economy and delivery drivers are seen as areas that can be easily exploited, and Britain does not have European-style ID cards. Mr Macron also sees benefits for migrants successfully granted asylum as another pull factor attracting migrants to Britain and another root cause that should be addressed. Legal routes for genuine asylum seekers His third demand centres on the number of small boat migrants trying to reach their families who are already in the UK. Mr Macron wants Britain to accept one genuine asylum seeker from France who wants to rejoin a family member in Britain for each illegal migrant France takes back. It is thought migrants will be less incentivised to make the dangerous crossing if they have a legal route into Britain. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has already prioritised a crackdown on illegal foreign workers and a blitz on delivery drivers, announced last week, in an attempt to counter criticism of the UK as a 'soft touch'. Raids on companies suspected of employing illegal workers passed 10,000 in the past year, a 48 per cent rise and fines for doing so have tripled to £60,000. In May, a Telegraph investigation revealed that asylum seekers housed in Home Office hotels are paying off people smuggler debts by illegally working as food delivery riders. Meanwhile, a new law will make it a legal requirement for all companies, including the gig economy, to check workers are legal. Plans are being drawn up to throw small boats migrants working illegally out of taxpayer-funded hotels and widen European-style digital IDs for overseas citizens. The King addressed the small boats crisis on Tuesday night at the state banquet, saying: 'Our security services and police will go further still to protect us against the profound challenges of terrorism, organised crime, cyber-attacks and irregular migration across the English Channel.' He added that there are no borders between Britain and France in the nations' joint quest to solve 'complex threats'. Earlier in the day, the King was seen deep in conversation with the French leader, with whom he shares a good relationship, during a carriage ride through Windsor. The King also kissed the hand of Brigitte Macron, the president's wife. More than 950 servicemen and women from all three armed services, and 70 horses, took part in the ceremonial welcome, from troops lining the carriage procession route to a guard of honour featuring guardsmen from two of the British Army's oldest regiments the Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards. Later in the evening, the state dinner at Windsor Castle saw the Princess of Wales attend her first evening banquet since November 2023, before her cancer diagnosis. She and Mr Macron were among guests who enjoyed a Franco-British menu created by Raymond Blanc at which the King raised a toast to the French in a speech peppered with jokes. Speaking partly in French, the King said: 'The summit that you and the Prime Minister will hold in London this week will deepen our alliance and broaden our partnership still further.' Addressing the French president as well as Sir Mick Jagger and Sir Elton John, he joked: 'We would not be neighbours if we did not have our differences' with 'amicable competition and occasionally even, dare I say, confusion' across cultures.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Palace European fate at stake as Lyon hearing starts
Crystal Palace will move a step closer towards discovering whether they can play in next season's Europa League with Lyon's appeal against their relegation from Ligue 1 set to start on French club's hearing, which will be crucial towards Uefa's decision as to whether Palace can compete in the Europa League, has been brought forward after initially being due to take place at the end of this week, multiple sources have told BBC Sport. French football authorities have demoted Lyon into Ligue 2 due to their poor financial the club have appealed against the decision, with French football's watchdog now set to rule over whether to uphold the relegation or hand Lyon a Lyon maintain their Ligue 1 status, the French side would likely keep their place in the Europa League, potentially at Palace's their relegation is upheld, Lyon have agreed with Uefa to be excluded from the competition - clearing the way for Palace to play in the uncertainty over Palace's European spot next season stems from a perceived breach of Uefa's multi-club ownership Football Holdings - owned by American businessman John Textor - is at the centre of the case. The company currently owns stakes in Palace and Lyon, with Uefa rules stating that clubs owned, to a certain threshold of influence, by the same person or entity cannot compete in the same European argue that Textor does not hold any decisive influence, but Uefa are yet to rule over whether they accept the Premier League side's football's governing body delayed its ruling on the case until the French authorities has made a decision on Lyon's league status.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Europe should reduce US and China ‘dual dependencies', Macron warns
European countries need to reduce their 'dual dependencies' on the US and China, Emmanuel Macron has warned, as he sketched out his vision of an empowered 'wider Europe' on the first day of a historic state visit. The French president addressed several hundred MPs and guests at the start of a three-day state trip – the first state visit of a European leader since Brexit. He used his speech to paint a picture of a new Europe beyond the boundaries of the 27-member EU bloc, with France and Britain at its core, only briefly referencing his disappointment at Britain's exit from the EU. Macron lavished praised on his British hosts and promised the two countries would cooperate more closely than ever on migration, with Keir Starmer pushing for a 'one-in, one-out' deal that would result in some asylum seekers being returned to France. And he called again for a youth mobility scheme, to widespread applause in the hall, including from Labour ministers. 'We will have to de-risk our two countries from the excessive dependencies on both the US and China,' he said. 'If we still depend on both China and the US, I think we have a clear view of our future and the future of our children. 'On one side [China], other capacities and other subsidies are clear threats [to] fair trade, and they are destabilising a lot of value chain and creating new dependencies. On the other side [the US], the trade war is clearly an explicit decision not to be compliant any more with WTO and this commerce we loved until now. 'If we want to build a sustainable future for all children [we have] to de-risk our economies and our societies from these dual dependencies.' Macron's speech formed one of the centrepieces of his three-day visit to the UK – the first for a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008. The day was filled with pomp and ceremony, including a welcome by King Charles at Windsor Castle and a trip in a horse-drawn coach to inspect a military guard of honour. The president then travelled to parliament to speak to MPs, peers and other invitees in the Royal Gallery – a venue previously graced by the former US president Bill Clinton, the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the former German chancellor Angela Merkel. Macron spoke from a platform between two huge paintings – one depicting the Battle of Waterloo and the other the Battle of Trafalgar. The French president mentioned neither conflict but drew heavily on the Entente Cordiale – signed between the two countries in 1904 – in an attempt to show the political battles of the Brexit era are now over. 'Since [1904], our states have had a broad, deep partnership, working together on European and global security,' he said. In a sign of that renewed cooperation, he announced the Bayeux tapestry would return to the UK for the first time in more than 900 years. The British government has been hoping to use the trip to show that its 'EU reset' had borne fruit, including on the traditionally difficult subject of migration. British officials have been hoping to sign a new deal that would see Britain accept asylum seekers who have a genuine family connection with the UK in return for being able to send others back to France. However, they had warned in recent days that it might not be ready in time for this trip. The French president did not say anything specific about the deal, but spoke in glowing terms about a youth mobility scheme, which is being worked on by UK and EU officials after the recent European summit in London. 'There is a risk that our societies are growing apart, that our young people do not know each other as well, and may end up strangers at a time when international current events remind us on a daily basis of our common future,' Macron said. 'Let's fix it. Let's work together in order to facilitate the exchange of students, researchers, intellectuals, artists … let's allow our children to have the same opportunities as the ones we had,' he added to widespread and sustained applause. Macron spent much of his timer focusing on the twin threats from the US and China, adding the level of risk from each was not the same. 'I do not put a sign equal between China and the US,' he said. 'We have a strong ally on one side, and a challenger – sometimes a partner, when I speak about climate change – with China.' He said the risks to European countries came from trade, global supply chains, and particularly technology, and compared manipulative algorithms used by US technology firms to the kind of political misinformation deliberately sewn by Russia in comments that underscored the differing approaches to technology being taken by Britain and France. 'What is at stake today in Europe is the defence of democratic models amid foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media,' he said. But while France and the EU have pushed ahead with social media regulation, the UK has shied away from doing so, and has even offered to reduce the amount of tax paid by the biggest US technology companies in return for tariff relief.
