Officials in France refused to accept up to half of the migrants that Britain’s Labour government attempted to deport under the failed “one in, one out” deal launched by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The initiative was designed to deter irregular Channel crossings by returning certain arrivals to France, albeit in exchange for admitting an equal number of asylum seekers through an official route.
This deal was among several strategies implemented by Starmer that failed to reduce illegal immigration. Boats continue to make the journey up to the present day, bringing 924 people to the United Kingdom over the past four days alone.
Low Deportation Numbers.
The Home Office failed to meet its already modest benchmark of deporting 100 boat migrants per week. Over the entire year the program was active, only 1,631 migrants were returned to France, compared to approximately 30,000 who made the illegal crossing during that same period. During certain stretches, France blocked 50 percent of proposed returns. Moreover, dozens of migrants returned to France under the scheme are known to have simply taken another boat back to Britain.
Ultimately, the policy lacked the scale needed to make a substantial impact. While over 200,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since 2020, Labour’s program consistently fell short of its 100-person weekly removal target. Its cancellation was confirmed in October.
Significantly, most of those 200,000+ boat migrants arrived under previous Conservative (Tory) administrations, peaking at over 45,000 in 2022. Neither of Britain’s two main political parties has succeeded in stopping the influx.
The Reform Approach.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has pledged to bring the crossings to a halt. During the party’s September conference in Birmingham, leader Nigel Farage and French National Rally president Jordan Bardella signed an agreement stating that a future National Rally administration in France would accept back any migrants who depart from France and are intercepted in British waters. Reform’s Shadow Home Secretary, Zia Yusuf, has promised to stop the small boats within his first 100 days in office, or else be fired by Farage.
To achieve this, the party proposes deploying the Royal Navy to stop incoming vessels and send migrants back to France, alongside conducting the largest mass deportation of unauthorized entrants in British history.
