Latest news with #EnglishChannel
Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer has just revealed he has absolutely no idea how to to stop the boats
Britain is on the cusp of a new immigration deal with France aimed at stopping the small boat crossings. So far, over 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel this year, putting us on course for record numbers. The Government's plans to 'smash the gangs', and novelties like a new Border Security Commander, have clearly failed. What's more, the top countries for asylum seekers to Britain are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. These are all countries where human rights law means they will likely never be sent home. Plans to stop the use of asylum hotels have been put off until 2029, and on current trends, there is no reason to think it wouldn't be put off again. That means they will keep costing billions every year. What the Government needs is a deterrent. Having dumped the Rwanda Plan in their first week in office, they lost the best effort at one so far. As they were so vociferous in attacking it, it seems unlikely they will try to resurrect it. Instead, they are supposedly planning a new deal with France. Early reports suggested a 'one in, one out' rule. That would mean that almost every small boat migrant would be sent back to France within weeks of arrival. In return, Britain would agree to take one asylum seeker from France with family links to Britain for every migrant sent back. The hope is that this would put potential small boat migrants off trying to come. Why bother spending thousands of pounds if you are guaranteed to be returned to France? Many of those coming on small boats do have family here already, though, so it is unclear how effective it would be. The Government seems to be aware that there are problems with the idea. They have had presentations from senior figures at the European Stability Initiative to discuss an alternative plan. This would involve a coalition of European countries, but not the European Union, who would agree to take back all small boat migrants from Britain. In return, Britain would agree to take a certain number of asylum seekers from them, suggested at a level of 20,000 for four years. The plan is that this would demonstrate that illegal crossings won't work but that there are safe and legal routes for refugees, with Britain setting up a visa application process in EU countries. Britain would still be taking asylum seekers but in significantly lower numbers. The European states, meanwhile, could test a plan they could then apply with other countries, to end the illegal immigration issues they face in the Mediterranean. This is very similar to the 2016 EU-Turkey deal which the European Stability Initiative helped to broker. That did reduce the numbers of asylum seekers coming through Turkey. However, the flows of illegal immigrants simply shifted to other routes, with overall levels still higher than they were before the 2015 refugee crisis. Many will also point out that this doesn't actually fix our issues with human rights laws; it just makes them slightly less worse. Taking in 80,000 asylum seekers would still be a large and costly policy, costing us all billions and directly contrary to what voters want. No wonder that Home Office sources have stressed that this is still a 'work in progress'.
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
UK and France to agree migrant return deal to tackle Channel crossings
The UK and France are expected to announce a one in, one out migrant returns deal to crack down on English Channel crossings, it has been reported. Plans for a pilot could be revealed next week, which marks one year since Sir Keir Starmer's Government came to power, or later in the summer, according to the Times. The deal could see migrants who arrive in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats returned to France, while the UK would accept those with legitimate claims to join family already in the country. It comes as the Government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs across the Channel, while crossings are at a record high for this point in the year, totalling 18,518. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been leading the talks, the paper added, who is credited with strengthening relationships with French counterparts. French officials have also agreed to changes that would allow police patrolling the coast to take action in the sea when migrants climb into boats from the water. Under the new returns deal, a joint processing system between the UK and France would be set up to identify migrants who have a valid claim for family reunification in the UK, the Times reported. For each person accepted to come to the UK, a migrant would be returned to France and relocated across the country away from its northern coastline where crossings take place. But reacting to the reports, shadow home secretary Chris 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.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK and France to agree migrant return deal to tackle Channel crossings
The UK and France are expected to announce a one in, one out migrant returns deal to crack down on English Channel crossings, it has been reported. Plans for a pilot could be revealed next week, which marks one year since Sir Keir Starmer's Government came to power, or later in the summer, according to the Times. The deal could see migrants who arrive in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats returned to France, while the UK would accept those with legitimate claims to join family already in the country. It comes as the Government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs across the Channel, while crossings are at a record high for this point in the year, totalling 18,518. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been leading the talks, the paper added, who is credited with strengthening relationships with French counterparts. French officials have also agreed to changes that would allow police patrolling the coast to take action in the sea when migrants climb into boats from the water. Under the new returns deal, a joint processing system between the UK and France would be set up to identify migrants who have a valid claim for family reunification in the UK, the Times reported. For each person accepted to come to the UK, a migrant would be returned to France and relocated across the country away from its northern coastline where crossings take place. But reacting to the reports, shadow home secretary Chris 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.'
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Pateley Bridge gran, 82, completes Channel swim
An 82-year-old woman has become one of the oldest people to swim across the English Channel as part of a relay Wagstaff, from Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire, joined five others taking it in turns to swim legs of the 21-mile (34km) crossing between Dover and team set off at 01:00 BST on 18 June, swimming in dark and cold conditions with Ms Wagstaff wearing a swimming costume, goggles and cap. Despite being diverted by the French Navy, the relay group landed near Wissant beach in France 18 hours and 18 minutes later. The challenge was in aid of Cosmic, a charity that supports families, nurses and doctors treating babies and children in intensive care."It was interesting, cold, glad I've done it but relieved to get it over with," Ms Wagstaff said. "One of the challenges was that it should have taken place last September and when we went down to do it, we never got a window in the decent weather. "It was put back to this year so it meant that I've had to continue training throughout the winter, which was challenging because it meant quite a lot of cold water." Every swimmer did three hour-long legs, with one also finishing the last 18 minutes of the relay."You're given a particular order and you have to stick to that order, no matter if you get ill, you've got to do your stint," Ms Wagstaff said."It was a brilliant team. It was the first time we'd all been together but we all got on so well and the over-riding thing was we didn't want to let each other down by not doing our legs."However, the team had to swim further than intended against the tide."We'd got delayed by a French naval vessel which had put an exclusion zone on the area that we were heading to," Ms Wagstaff added."When we actually got there, the relief was amazing and there was just so much enjoyment from everybody." Ms Wagstaff is no stranger to taking on challenges, after also competing in the Ironman world championships in Hawaii when she was in her 60s."I think this one has been the longest coming," she said."It's something I wanted to do, probably very unrealistically, in my teens because I've always swum."The grandmother did both lake and pool swims as part of her joked a divorce would be on the cards if she took on another huge challenge but a reunion with her swim team, who were mostly in their 50s, would certainly be the group raised more than £25,000 for charity's chief executive, Susannah Forland, said: "We are extremely proud of Dot and the rest of the Cosmic Rays team on such a fantastic achievement. "We are enormously grateful for their amazing fundraising efforts, which will directly support essential services, including on-site-family accommodation, counselling support, specialist equipment for our intensive care units and vital research into life-threatening childhood diseases." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK prepares to announce ‘one in, one out' migrant deal with France
A migrant removals deal between the UK and France involving a 'one-in, one-out' exchange agreement is reportedly close to being announced. Under the plan, a person being deported from the UK would be exchanged for another individual sent from France who has a right to be in Britain. Those arriving the UK would include people with a legitimate case for family reunification. According to a report in The Times, Sir Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron are preparing to announce the agreement next week in a bid to break the model of smuggling gangs using small boats for English Channel crossings. A government source told the newspaper: 'It'll start as a pilot but it's to prove the point that if you pay for your passage on a boat then you could quite quickly find yourself back in France.' The UK agreed a £480 million deal with France to beef up its efforts to stop migrants in 2023 under former prime minister Rishi Sunak. And on coming to power last year, Sir Keir vowed to 'smash the gangs' behind people-smuggling operations to bring down crossings. But according to Home Office figures, 17,817 people have made the crossing so far this year. This compares to 12,313 by the same date in 2024 and 10,518 in 2023 while 11,690 had made the crossing by June 20 in 2022. The migrant exchange plans previously surfaced in April when transport minister Lilian Greenwood said there were discussions 'ongoing' with the French government, but did not say what a future deal could look like. She told Sky News: 'I can confirm that there are discussions ongoing with the French government about how we stop this appalling and dangerous trade in people that's happening across the English Channel.' She later said that 'where people don't have a right to be here, they need to be returned'.
