Labour poised to announce 'one in, one out' migrant exchange deal with France - but Tories dub it 'pathetic'
The Conservatives have blasted a 'pathetic' plan being drawn up by Labour to send small boat migrants back to France in exchange for other types of asylum seekers.
Ministers are reported to be on the cusp of announcing a deal with president Emmanuel Macron 's government which would see France accept returns of Channel migrants for the first time.
But for each migrant returned back across the Channel the UK would accept another asylum seeker in a 'one in, one out' exchange, it is understood.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded it 'pathetic' and said Labour should never have scrapped the previous government's Rwanda asylum scheme, which was designed to deter Channel crossings.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the new agreement within days, in the run-up to the first anniversary of Labour's return to power, which falls a week tomorrow.
Amid an intensifying Channel crisis, the Government will hope the deal will reduce the number of migrants crossing illegally by dinghy – who may be deterred because they could be sent back almost immediately.
However, how the scheme will work – and its full impact – remains unknown at this stage.
Britain will reportedly accept asylum seekers from France on a 'one for one' basis. They are likely to be those who already have relatives living in this country.
Mr Philp said: 'We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais, and in return we get a migrant merry-go-round where the same number still come here.
'The French are failing to stop the boats at sea, failing to return them like the Belgians do, and now instead of demanding real enforcement, Labour are trying a 'one in, one out' gimmick.
'If Labour were serious, they would not have scrapped the returns deterrent the National Crime Agency said we needed - instead, they've surrendered our immigration system. Pathetic.'
It comes after 118 migrants reached Britain on Wednesday, bringing the total since Labour came to power to 41,760, up 34 per cent on the same period in 2023-24.
Earlier this week it emerged that migrants living in taxpayer-funded asylum hotels are securing work as fast food delivery riders within hours of entering Britain.
Mr Philp said he had found evidence of asylum seekers breaking rules which bar them from working while their claim is processed by the Home Office.
The Tory frontbencher visited an asylum hotel in central London and posted a video showing bicycles fitted with delivery boxes for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats parked outside.
Latest Home Office figures show there are about 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels in the UK.
Sir Keir scrapped the Rwanda scheme as one of his first acts in office.
The deal would have seen small boat migrants handed a one-way ticket to the east African nation to claim asylum there rather than in the UK.
Labour replaced the scheme with measures to boost law enforcement, in a bid to 'smash the gangs' behind the deadly Channel crossings aboard overloaded, sub-standard dinghies.
On Tuesday the borders watchdog said he was 'not convinced' Labour's plan will end the Channel crisis, and predicted ministers will fail to meet their target to end use of asylum hotels by end of this Parliament.
Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Bolt said he had written to ministers to express his doubts about the plan.
It was first reported in April that Britain and France were in talks about a migrant returns deal. At that stage it was mooted to be a pilot scheme.
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