THE UK coastguard has confirmed it is dealing with “multiple” small boats making the perilous journey across the Channel this morning.
The response comes less than 24 hours after the Prime Minister announced a one-in-one-out deal to return small boat migrants to France.
PAThe UK Coastguard has been called to deal with ‘multiple’ small boats[/caption]
ReutersMore migrant crossings have put a dampener on the PM’s deal with France[/caption]
The deal, confirmed yesterday after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, will see just 50 migrants sent packing each week.
And more migrants put a dampener on Keir Starmer‘s deal this morning, as RNLI and Border Force vessels were sent out to ferry further boats onto UK shores.
The announcement was also made on the same day as hundreds more migrants crossed the Channel – with photos showing them waving from packed boats.
The PM hailed the “groundbreaking” returns’ scheme as “aggressive” – but admitted it was merely a pilot plan that would deal with just a fraction of the migrants trying to cross the Channel every day.
In a joint press conference with Macron yesterday, Sir Keir confirmed that in exchange for sending unlawful migrants back, the UK will accept asylum seekers from Calais who have “legitimate claims”.
Only those who haven’t tried to enter the country illegally before will be eligible for the scheme, which will come into force “in weeks”.
The PM hailed the plan as “hard-headed, aggressive action” and boasted that “previous governments tried and failed to secure results like this”.
But the agreement is the equivalent of just 2,600 returns annually, compared with the 44,000 who have arrived since Labour took power a year ago.
And this year alone more than 21,117 migrants have crossed the Channel – a 56 per cent rise on the same period in 2024.
Head of the Immigration Services Union, Lucy Morton, slammed the deal for failing to guarantee returned arrivals won’t just try again.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper refused to say how many illegal migrants would be sent packing to France under the new arrangement.
Pressed to give a figure this morning, Ms Cooper responded: “The numbers are not fixed, even for this pilot phase that we are starting now.
“So this will be a programme that we roll out step-by-step, and we will provide updates as we go.
“But we are going to do this in a steady way.”
Top Tories also slammed the agreement as a “gimmick” and pointed to the PM’s so-far failed pledge to “smash the gangs“.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told Times Radio: “This new announcement is a gimmick just like the smash the gangs gimmick was a year ago.
“Under their proposal 50 migrants a week will get sent back.
“We’ve got record ever numbers of illegal arrivals this year so far under Starmer, Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper.
“They have failed and I’m afraid they’re going to continue to fail.”
At the Northwood Military Headquarters in Hertfordshire, Sir Keir and Mr Macron insisted the deal would help break the business model of the smuggling gangs.
It is believed migrants would be unwilling to pay thousands for a crossing if they could be sent straight back.
But Sir Keir admitted the new deal won’t necessarily end the crisis, saying: “There is no silver bullet here”.
Under the “returns pilot”, for the very first time, small boat migrants will be “detained and returned to France in short order”.
The selected migrants – all adults – will be handed notices informing them that they are due to be sent back to France.
Money for the returns will come from existing Home Office budgets.
In exchange for every return, a different asylum seeker will be allowed into Britain through a “safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks”.
A spokesperson for the UK Coastguard said: “HM Coastguard has been coordinating a response to multiple incidents involving small boats in the Channel on 10 and 11 July.
“UK Border Force and RNLI vessels have been sent as part of this response.”
PADozens of migrants landed on UK shores as Sir Keir and Mr Macron announced their deal[/caption]
PALast month, French cops were spotted standing around on a beach taking pictures as more dinghies set sail[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
