Latest news with #UK-FranceSummit
Glasgow Times
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
French action ‘has prevented nearly 500 small boat crossings this year'
Yvette Cooper told MPs nearly 500 crossings had been 'prevented' by the French police, with 385 reaching British shores. Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper told MPs the Government had five tactics to address small boat crossings, including strengthening the border and clamping down on illegal working. Her statement came days after the Government secured a new agreement with France over returning migrants who had arrived on small boats. She said: 'French actions have prevented 496 boat crossings this year, but 385 boats have crossed. 'And criminal gangs are operating new tactics, increasing the overcrowding of boats so that more people arrive, and loading them in shallow waters, exploiting the French rules that means their authorities have not been able to intervene in the water.' It is unclear whether the figure refers to small boat crossings being stopped before or during attempts to leave the coastline, or by other means such as seizing boats from warehouses. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during Mr Macron's state visit to the UK (Leon Neal/PA) The Home Secretary referred to 'appalling scenes' of people clambering onto crowded boats in shallow waters, and said French police had faced 'disgraceful violence' from gang members behind the crossings. She continued: 'We cannot stand for this. That is why the new action agreed with France includes establishing a new French Compagnie de Marche of specialist enforcement officers, with stronger public order powers to address increases in violence on French beaches and prevent boat launches before they reach the water.' Some 22,492 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, according to latest Home Office figures. This is up 57% on this point last year (14,291) and 71% higher than at this stage in 2023 (13,144), according to PA news agency analysis. Last week's agreement saw a deal struck for a one in, one out system that would see a small boat migrant exchange for a legal asylum seeker. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the scheme, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to around 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Priority will be given to people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, who are most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs and also asylum seekers who have connections to the UK. The accord came at the end of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper during the UK-France Summit on day three of Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK (Yui Mok/PA) Ms Cooper said: 'The new agreement reached at the summit last week means stronger partnership working with source and transit countries to prevent illegal migration.' Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rubbished the idea that progress had been made on the issue, and said statistics showed small boat crossings had risen under Labour. Mr Philp said the 12 months since Labour's election last July had seen a 40% rise year-on-year in terms of crossings. He said: 'The Home Secretary comes here today sounding rather pleased with herself. I'm afraid she has no reason to. 'A year ago, she promised to smash the gangs, she said again and again that was her plan, indeed it was her only plan. Yet today, there is no mention of what was once her favourite catchphrase. 'That's because her claim to smash the gangs has become a joke, an embarrassment to her and to the Government.' He added that rather than closing asylum hotels, there were 3,000 more people in them than last year. 'She is setting records, just all the wrong ones,' he said. People thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) Ms Cooper replied: 'This crisis, the small boats chaos, went on for 340 weeks under the Tories, a period in which when he was immigration minister, overall migration near trebled and small boat crossings increased tenfold when he was the immigration minister in charge.' She later said the Government's plan would involve greater co-operation with other governments, rather than 'standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea'. Ms Cooper said: 'We will best strengthen our border security by working with countries on the other side of those borders who face exactly the same challenges far better than just standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea.' Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked the Home Secretary to respond to the idea that the UK was 'perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants'. She replied: 'I do think frankly it has been too easy to work illegally in this country for too long, and we know that one of the things that the criminal gangs say to people is, 'it will be easy to get a job'. 'They will even give people discounts if they can come and work for those same criminal gangs operating in the UK.'
The Herald Scotland
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
French action ‘has prevented nearly 500 small boat crossings this year'
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper told MPs the Government had five tactics to address small boat crossings, including strengthening the border and clamping down on illegal working. Her statement came days after the Government secured a new agreement with France over returning migrants who had arrived on small boats. She said: 'French actions have prevented 496 boat crossings this year, but 385 boats have crossed. 'And criminal gangs are operating new tactics, increasing the overcrowding of boats so that more people arrive, and loading them in shallow waters, exploiting the French rules that means their authorities have not been able to intervene in the water.' It is unclear whether the figure refers to small boat crossings being stopped before or during attempts to leave the coastline, or by other means such as seizing boats from warehouses. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during Mr Macron's state visit to the UK (Leon Neal/PA) The Home Secretary referred to 'appalling scenes' of people clambering onto crowded boats in shallow waters, and said French police had faced 'disgraceful violence' from gang members behind the crossings. She continued: 'We cannot stand for this. That is why the new action agreed with France includes establishing a new French Compagnie de Marche of specialist enforcement officers, with stronger public order powers to address increases in violence on French beaches and prevent boat launches before they reach the water.' Some 22,492 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, according to latest Home Office figures. This is up 57% on this point last year (14,291) and 71% higher than at this stage in 2023 (13,144), according to PA news agency analysis. Last week's agreement saw a deal struck for a one in, one out system that would see a small boat migrant exchange for a legal asylum seeker. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the scheme, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to around 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Priority will be given to people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, who are most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs and also asylum seekers who have connections to the UK. The accord came at the end of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper during the UK-France Summit on day three of Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK (Yui Mok/PA) Ms Cooper said: 'The new agreement reached at the summit last week means stronger partnership working with source and transit countries to prevent illegal migration.' Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rubbished the idea that progress had been made on the issue, and said statistics showed small boat crossings had risen under Labour. Mr Philp said the 12 months since Labour's election last July had seen a 40% rise year-on-year in terms of crossings. He said: 'The Home Secretary comes here today sounding rather pleased with herself. I'm afraid she has no reason to. 'A year ago, she promised to smash the gangs, she said again and again that was her plan, indeed it was her only plan. Yet today, there is no mention of what was once her favourite catchphrase. 'That's because her claim to smash the gangs has become a joke, an embarrassment to her and to the Government.' He added that rather than closing asylum hotels, there were 3,000 more people in them than last year. 'She is setting records, just all the wrong ones,' he said. People thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) Ms Cooper replied: 'This crisis, the small boats chaos, went on for 340 weeks under the Tories, a period in which when he was immigration minister, overall migration near trebled and small boat crossings increased tenfold when he was the immigration minister in charge.' She later said the Government's plan would involve greater co-operation with other governments, rather than 'standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea'. Ms Cooper said: 'We will best strengthen our border security by working with countries on the other side of those borders who face exactly the same challenges far better than just standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea.' Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked the Home Secretary to respond to the idea that the UK was 'perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants'. She replied: 'I do think frankly it has been too easy to work illegally in this country for too long, and we know that one of the things that the criminal gangs say to people is, 'it will be easy to get a job'. 'They will even give people discounts if they can come and work for those same criminal gangs operating in the UK.'
Western Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
French action ‘has prevented nearly 500 small boat crossings this year'
Yvette Cooper told MPs nearly 500 crossings had been 'prevented' by the French police, with 385 reaching British shores. Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper told MPs the Government had five tactics to address small boat crossings, including strengthening the border and clamping down on illegal working. Her statement came days after the Government secured a new agreement with France over returning migrants who had arrived on small boats. She said: 'French actions have prevented 496 boat crossings this year, but 385 boats have crossed. 'And criminal gangs are operating new tactics, increasing the overcrowding of boats so that more people arrive, and loading them in shallow waters, exploiting the French rules that means their authorities have not been able to intervene in the water.' It is unclear whether the figure refers to small boat crossings being stopped before or during attempts to leave the coastline, or by other means such as seizing boats from warehouses. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during Mr Macron's state visit to the UK (Leon Neal/PA) The Home Secretary referred to 'appalling scenes' of people clambering onto crowded boats in shallow waters, and said French police had faced 'disgraceful violence' from gang members behind the crossings. She continued: 'We cannot stand for this. That is why the new action agreed with France includes establishing a new French Compagnie de Marche of specialist enforcement officers, with stronger public order powers to address increases in violence on French beaches and prevent boat launches before they reach the water.' Some 22,492 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, according to latest Home Office figures. This is up 57% on this point last year (14,291) and 71% higher than at this stage in 2023 (13,144), according to PA news agency analysis. Last week's agreement saw a deal struck for a one in, one out system that would see a small boat migrant exchange for a legal asylum seeker. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the scheme, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to around 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Priority will be given to people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, who are most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs and also asylum seekers who have connections to the UK. The accord came at the end of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper during the UK-France Summit on day three of Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK (Yui Mok/PA) Ms Cooper said: 'The new agreement reached at the summit last week means stronger partnership working with source and transit countries to prevent illegal migration.' Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rubbished the idea that progress had been made on the issue, and said statistics showed small boat crossings had risen under Labour. Mr Philp said the 12 months since Labour's election last July had seen a 40% rise year-on-year in terms of crossings. He said: 'The Home Secretary comes here today sounding rather pleased with herself. I'm afraid she has no reason to. 'A year ago, she promised to smash the gangs, she said again and again that was her plan, indeed it was her only plan. Yet today, there is no mention of what was once her favourite catchphrase. 'That's because her claim to smash the gangs has become a joke, an embarrassment to her and to the Government.' He added that rather than closing asylum hotels, there were 3,000 more people in them than last year. 'She is setting records, just all the wrong ones,' he said. People thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) Ms Cooper replied: 'This crisis, the small boats chaos, went on for 340 weeks under the Tories, a period in which when he was immigration minister, overall migration near trebled and small boat crossings increased tenfold when he was the immigration minister in charge.' She later said the Government's plan would involve greater co-operation with other governments, rather than 'standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea'. Ms Cooper said: 'We will best strengthen our border security by working with countries on the other side of those borders who face exactly the same challenges far better than just standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea.' Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked the Home Secretary to respond to the idea that the UK was 'perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants'. She replied: 'I do think frankly it has been too easy to work illegally in this country for too long, and we know that one of the things that the criminal gangs say to people is, 'it will be easy to get a job'. 'They will even give people discounts if they can come and work for those same criminal gangs operating in the UK.'
Japan Today
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
UK and France agree to send some migrants arriving in Britain by boat back to France
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a plenary at the UK-France Summit in Downing Street, London Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Yui Mok/Pool Photo via AP) By JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA Britain and France agreed Thursday to a pilot plan that will send some migrants who cross the English Channel on small boats back to France as the UK government struggles to tamp down criticism that it has lost control of the country's borders. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the deal Thursday in London. While the initial program a limited number of people, UK officials suggest it is a major breakthrough because it sets a precedent that migrants who reach Britain illegally can be returned to France. "There is no silver bullet here, but with a united effort, new tactics and a new level of intent, we can finally turn the tables,'' Starmer told reporters at a news conference. 'For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order.' Under the agreement, Britain will send some of those who cross the Channel in small boats back to France while accepting an equal number migrants who are judged to have legitimate claims to asylum in the UK. Starmer had pushed for the arrangement, known as the 'one in, one out' deal, in hopes of discouraging people from making the dangerous crossing. It is set to begin in weeks. Small boat crossings have become a potent political issue in Britain, fueled by pictures of smugglers piling migrants into overcrowded, leaky inflatable boats on the French coast. So far this year, more than 21,000 people have arrived in the UK in small boats, up 56% from the same period last year. The crossing is dangerous and many have died. "I'm totally committed to make it work, because this is clearly our willingness and our common interest,' Macron said. He added that the point of the pilot was a 'deterrence' effect. The measure announced Thursday is part of broader efforts to build closer cooperation with France, as well as countries further up the migrants' routes from Africa and the Middle East. British officials have been pushing for French police to intervene more forcefully to stop boats once they have left the shore, and welcomed the sight of officers slashing rubber dinghies with knives in recent days. Macron said earlier this week that he and Starmer would aim for 'tangible results' on an issue that's 'a burden for our two countries.' As far back as 2001, the two countries were discussing ways to stop the flow of migrants, though at that time they were focused on people stowing away on trains and trucks entering Britain through the tunnel under the channel. Over the following years, French authorities cleared out camps near Calais where thousands of migrants gathered before trying to reach Britain. Beefed up security sharply reduced the number of vehicle stowaways, but from about 2018 people-smugglers began offering migrants a new route by sea. 'You see that pattern again and again, where smuggling gangs and migrants try to find new ways to cross from France to the UK,' said Mihnea Cuibus, a researcher at the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory. 'The authorities crack down on that, and then gradually you see migrants and gangs try to adapt to that. And it becomes a bit of a game of cat and mouse.' Cooperation on stopping the boats stalled after Britain's acrimonious split from the European Union in 2020, but in the past few years the countries have struck several agreements that saw the UK pay France to increase police and drone patrols of the coast. Britain's previous Conservative government came up with a contentious plan in 2022 to deport asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Rwanda. Critics called it unworkable and unethical, and it was scrapped by Starmer soon after he took office in July 2024. Cuibus said irregular cross-channel migration would likely always be a challenge, but that the measures being discussed by Britain and France could make an impact, 'if they're implemented in the right way. 'But that's a big if,' he said. The UK-France summit came after a three-day state visit that stressed the longstanding ties between the two countries despite the rupture caused by Britain's departure from the European Union. Punctuated by carriage rides, banquets and champagne toasts, the two leaders hugged and offered a picture of unity — a step forward to greater cooperation in the future. The bonhomie was followed by concrete actions. The two leaders sealed deals on defense cooperation, including a pledge to coordinate their nuclear deterrents for the first time. 'Now as Europe's only nuclear powers and as leaders in NATO, we play a vital role in preserving the peace and security on this continent,' Starmer said. 'From today, our adversaries will know that any extreme threat to this continent would prompt a response from our two nations,' Starmer added. Also Thursday Macron and Starmer visited a military base and dialed in to a planning meeting of the ' coalition of the willing, 'a UK- and France-initiated plan for an international force to guarantee a future ceasefire in Ukraine. Americans attended the meeting for the first time, including retired Lt Gen Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. Republican Sen Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who have co-sponsored a new sanctions bill against Russia, were also at the table. The group agreed to set up its headquarters in Paris to facilitate a rapid deployment after the war ends. Associated Press Writer Brian Melley contributed. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Starmer, Macron unveil new migration deal, strengthen UK-France ties
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of France Emmanuel Macron attend a plenary at the UK-France Summit, in Downing Street, London, Britain July 10, Listen to article British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron concluded a three-day state visit on Thursday by announcing a new bilateral migration deal and fresh commitments to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. The leaders also agreed on enhanced defence and nuclear cooperation. Migration agreement: 'one In, one out' At a joint press conference, Starmer and Macron unveiled a 'one in, one out' migrant returns scheme. Under the deal, the UK will return undocumented migrants arriving by small boats to France, in exchange for accepting an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with British family ties. "I'm pleased to announce our agreement today on a groundbreaking returns pilot," said Starmer. "For the very first time, migrants arriving in small boats will be detained and returned to France in short order." A government source said the UK aims to return around 50 migrants per week—approximately 2,600 per year—a fraction of the more than 35,000 Channel arrivals last year. Another source suggested the programme could be scaled up. More than 21,000 people have already crossed into the UK by small boats in 2025, a record at this point in the year. The joint declaration noted the deal must still undergo legal scrutiny and coordination with the EU and its member states. Some Labour lawmakers, including Fabian Hamilton, expressed scepticism about the plan's effectiveness. Read More:French comedian Bun Hay Mean dies at 43 after falling from balcony Macron's critique and the EU context Macron acknowledged domestic political risks for accepting the returns and criticised the UK's post-Brexit approach to migration. 'A lot of people in your country explained that Brexit would allow you to fight more efficiently against illegal immigration,' he said. 'But the result has been the exact opposite.' He urged Britain to address so-called 'migration pull factors,' including the ease of finding work without legal status. Starmer responded by highlighting the UK's crackdown on illegal employment, calling it "completely unprecedented in scale." Ukraine support and defence cooperation The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine. They joined a call with the "coalition of the willing"—a group of nations preparing a coordinated response in the event of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Starmer told US envoy Keith Kellogg that it was time to pressure President Vladimir Putin to negotiate, while ensuring Ukraine is in the strongest position possible. The coalition will be headquartered in Paris for its first year before rotating to London. It aims to help Ukraine rebuild land forces, defend its airspace, and secure maritime routes. Also Read:Iran threats in UK 'significantly increased': intelligence watchdog "Supporting Ukraine is not just the right thing to do, it's essential for delivering security at home," Starmer said. Nuclear and missile agreements The two countries also committed to ordering more Storm Shadow cruise missiles for Ukraine and signed a landmark nuclear cooperation agreement. For the first time, the deal allows for coordination of the UK and French nuclear deterrents. "As close partners and NATO allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration," said Starmer. "Today's agreements take our partnership to the next level."
