Labour admitted on Monday night that no Channel migrants have been returned to France yet under its much-vaunted ‘one in, one out’ deal.
Ministers had claimed when the agreement was announced in July that it would take effect within weeks, and the first small boat arrivals due to be returned were detained in Dover at the start of August.
But the Home Secretary told Parliament on Monday that she now expects the deportations to begin ‘later this month’.
And Yvette Cooper would not tell MPs how many people would be in the first tranche, while some 3,567 more people have landed in dinghies since the deal with France was ratified – adding to the record numbers arriving this year.
It came as she launched a crackdown on the family reunion scheme, barring refugees from bringing their partners and children to the UK, while Sir Keir Starmer vowed to speed up the closure of asylum hotels in the wake of angry protests around the country.
On Monday night Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Mail: ‘The Government claimed in July that a handful of migrants would be sent back to France within weeks – but it’s now September and not a single person has been sent back.
‘Under Labour, a small boat to the UK is a one-way ticket to one of Keir Starmer’s cushy hotels – paid for by hard-pressed taxpayers. This weak government has lost control of our borders and won’t do what is needed to fix it.
‘Labour has flung open the doors to the UK and this year they have let in the highest number of illegal immigrants across the channel ever.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) told Parliament on Monday that she now expects the deportations of migrants to begin ‘later this month’ – but she would not tell MPs how many people would be in the first tranche
Some 3,567 people have landed in the UK in dinghies since the deal with France was ratified, with none returned thus far. Pictured: Migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France disembark from Border Force vessel ‘Typhoon’ after it arrived into Dover on February 9, 2025
The one in, one out deal was announced by the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (right) on July 10 at the end of the Anglo-French summit
‘They are too weak to do what’s needed to fix this – which is make sure that every single illegal immigrant is removed immediately upon arrival. Then, no one would bother crossing in the first place.’
The one-in, one-out deal was announced by the Prime Minister and President Emmanuel Macron on July 10th at the end of the Anglo-French summit.
Sir Keir said at the time that the ‘ground-breaking’ pilot project – under which some migrants arriving in small boats would be detained and returned to France while the same number of genuine asylum-seekers would be allowed to come to the UK – would begin ‘in the coming weeks’.
The Home Secretary also told MPs on July 14th that the expectation was ‘that that pilot will be operationalised in the coming weeks’.
It was announced on August 4th that the treaty had been ratified, then the Home Office revealed that ‘detentions began for those who arrived in the UK on a small boat’ on August 6th, stating: ‘The UK will make referrals to France within 3 days, and the French authorities will be expected to respond within 14 days.’
But almost four weeks on, the cases are still being processed although sources insisted that those detained are still being held.
Ms Cooper told the Commons on Monday: ‘In August I signed the new treaty with France allowing us for the first time to directly return those who arrive on small boats.
‘The first detentions took place the next day – of people immediately on arrival at Dover. And we expect the first returns to begin later this month.
Migrants clamber aboard a smuggler’s boat off Gravelines in northern France last month
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing intense pressure over his immigration and asylum policy
‘Applications have also been opened for the reciprocal legal route, with the first cases under consideration, subject to the strict security checks.’
But asked how many people would be returned over the coming year, amid reports that it could be fewer than 50 a week, she replied: ‘We have set out that this is a pilot, and that we want to build and grow it.
‘There is no cap on the overall numbers to go as part of the pilot, and we need to build it as we go.’
She said that the National Crime Agency, Britain’s equivalent of the FBI, had led a record ‘347 disruptions of immigration crime networks’ in the past year.
But her Tory counterpart Mr Philp said that 84 per cent were ‘classified as not being high impact’ and the NCA had only made 26 arrests for organisation immigration crime.
He also pointed out that she had failed to mention the numbers of people crossing the Channel.
‘Far from smashing the gangs, so far this year, 29,000—to be precise, 29,003—illegal immigrants have crossed the English Channel. That is the worst year in history, and it is up by 38 per cent compared with last year.’
The Government had highlighted the fact that the number of boats crossing the Channel in August was at 55 the lowest since 2019. But the number of migrants in the boats stood at 3,567 for the month, the lowest only since 2021.
Despite announcing plans to suspend new applications to the refugee family reunion route, while the PM told the BBC he wanted to speed up the process of having asylum hotels ’emptied’, Ms Cooper faced demands by Labour backbenchers to do more to tackle illegal migration.
This week it emerged that Britain could be forced to pay for a new French ‘maritime intervention force’ that escorts migrant small boats away from England. The radical plan would see fast patrol craft surrounding the dinghies packed with passengers
Home Office sources said the idea had ‘never been brought up in our conversations with the French’ and downplayed any suggestion the UK would face a new bill. Currently, once boats are in the water the French authorities are not legally allowed to approach and make arrests
It is understood that Bruno Retailleau (pictured), France ‘s Interior Minister, believes that specialist boats and dedicated officers could be the solution. It is said that the cost of the boats would be added to the near £500 million that the UK pledged to give France in 2023
Jodie Gosling asked for better vetting of migrants being moved out of hotels ‘to safeguard our residents’ while Graham Stringer said he doubted how successful the current measures would be and urged the Home Secretary to look at the tough approach taken by Denmark.
Amid growing calls from within Labour for the Government to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Ms Cooper admitted that there is a ‘challenge’ in the way the Article 8 right to a family life is being used in asylum cases and that ‘the rules need to change’.
But she added that Britain’s membership of the ECHR was ‘part of the reason why we have been able to get international agreements’ and was ‘how we got the French pilot’.
On Monday night, a Labour source insisted: ‘We operationalised the France returns pilot, we already have people in detention to deport back to France in coming weeks.’
And the insider added: ‘The Tories promised everyone would be returned to Rwanda – their £700 million gimmick was announced two years before they sent just four volunteers.
‘Labour are strengthening our international cooperation, tackling immigration crime and disrupting those who facilitate these dangerous boat crossings.’
