UK to return some small boat migrants to France within weeks

The UK will begin returning migrants arriving in small boats to France within weeks under a new pilot scheme, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Under the “one in one out” deal, some arrivals would be detained and returned to France and in exchange the UK would accept an equivalent number of asylum seekers, subject to security checks and provided they had not tried to enter the UK illegally.

Speaking at a press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir said the plan would demonstrate that trying to make the Channel crossing would “be in vain”.

He did not confirm how many people would be returned or accepted during the pilot.

Asked if the deal would be big enough to act as an effective deterrent, Sir Keir said the pilot would help “break the model” of the people smugglers, and…