Starmer, Macron agree on need for migrant deterrent: UK

Perth Now

18 hours ago

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed on the need for new solutions to the problem of illegal migration, Starmer's office says.
The two met for lunch during on Wednesday, with both sides talking up the need to deliver concrete progress to stop migrants travelling to England from France.
"The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions," a summary of the meeting sent out by Starmer's office said.
"The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs."
Starmer is seeking to agree to a returns deal for asylum seekers ahead of a bilateral summit on Thursday.
Such an agreement would help the prime minister meet a pledge to stop the flow of tens of thousands of people into the United Kingdom from across the Channel.
France has rejected a returns deal for asylum seekers in the past, saying the UK should negotiate with the European Union as a whole.
Under Starmer's plan, the UK would deport one asylum seeker to France in exchange for another with a legitimate case.
But in a speech on Tuesday, Macron spoke of the need to address "migration pull factors," suggesting any deal would require Starmer to make it harder for migrants who do not have legal status to live and work in the UK.
The two countries have also been working to create a military force to back Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, and co-operation on trade and defence were themes in Macron's speech on Tuesday.
Macron's three-day visit, at the invitation of King Charles III, is the first state visit to the UK by a European Union head of state since Brexit.
The president and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were greeted on Tuesday on a red carpet at London's RAF Northolt air base by the Prince and Princess of Wales and they were met in Windsor, west of London, by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
A military band played the French and UK national anthems as all four set out for the royal residence of Windsor Castle in horse-drawn carriages, through streets bedecked in Union Jacks and French tricolour flags.
with AP