UK Politics

French president arrives for crunch migration talks with Starmer over ‘one in one out’ dealMigrants crossed the English Channel in small boats to Dover as Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron were in crunch talks over a deal on curbing their numbers.People wearing life jackets arrived in Kent and disembarked from a Border Force boat amid sunny weather on Thursday.Border Force vessels were sent in response to a number of boats on Thursday morning, according to HM coastguard.Earlier, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed there were 78 illegal migrants on a dinghy intercepted by the French navy.Under the deal being thrashed out by France and the UK during Emmanuel Macron’s state visit, up to 50 migrants a week could be sent back to France.The French president will round off his three-day state visit with a press conference with the prime minister in London at which they are expected to announce new plans to tackle the small-boat crossings. It’s understood the deal has not yet been finalised but a pilot scheme could start as early as next week, involving migrants being returned to France in exchange for those with genuine claims to be in the UK.Recap: Refugee campaigners attack new dealCampaigners for refugees warned the UK-France deal would drive migrants back into the hands of gangs.Asylum Matters executive director Louise Calvey said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people-smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal- violence that will cost people their lives.”The only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”Alexander Butler10 July 2025 15:52Starmer and Macron presser delayed as world leaders discuss ‘coalition of the willing’There is a growing sense of impatience amongst the large group of British and French journalists waiting in a sweltering holding room next to the where Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are set to deliver a press conference in London.It is not yet clear when the presser – which has been hit by delays – will begin, but the two leaders are expected to unveil a new deal to return migrants to France if they arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel.The UK prime minister and French president are held up on a call with other world leaders to discuss the the “coalition of the willing” – a proposed peacekeeping force to support Ukraine.Millie Cooke10 July 2025 15:34‘Dark days lie ahead if migration not tackled,’ Chris Philp warnsDark days lie ahead if public concern about soaring migration is not addressed, the shadow home secretary has warned.Chris Philp has said legal and illegal migration is a serious challenge across the Western world, and that he had spoken to senior figures in Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party, who said “this is their last chance to fix this problem before extreme right wing parties take over”.“I think that should be a warning to all of us in mature Western democracies, that if we don’t fix this, extremely dark times could lie ahead,” Mr Philp added.Archie Mitchell10 July 2025 15:26Philp: Rwanda plan would have workedChris Philp has said the Tories’ Rwanda plan would have worked, had they just been given more time.The deportation scheme was announced by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel in April 2022, but was held up by legal complications until being scrapped by Labour after last year’s general election.In the years since the plan was made public, being championed by three prime ministers, just four volunteers were eventually sent to Rwanda at a cost of £700m to taxpayers.But, speaking to journalists on Thursday, the shadow home secretary said: “Keir Starmer must now be thinking, at least in the dark recesses of the night, that he made a catastrophic mistake by cancelling that just two or three weeks before it was due to start.”Archie Mitchell10 July 2025 15:21Asylum charity: Starmer’s ‘grubby deal’ will leave migrants at mercy of smugglersAn asylum charity has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s “grubby” one-in, one-out deal with Emmanuel Macron will put asylum seekers back in the hands of people smugglers.Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal – violence that will cost people their lives.“We don’t need another expensive, ineffective, dangerous Rwanda-style gimmick. We don’t need more enforcement making journeys even more dangerous. It’s incredibly simple: the only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”Archie Mitchell10 July 2025 15:15European peacekeeping plans ‘ready to go’, says MacronEuropean plans for a peacekeeping force to aid Ukraine once the war ends are now “mature” after months of planning, Sir Keir Starmer said, with French President Emmanuel Macron describing them as “ready to go” once a ceasefire is agreed.Speaking during a call with allies who make up the so-called coalition of the willing, the Prime Minister said: “I am very pleased to say today that these plans are mature and we are putting them on a long-term footing.”New headquarters for the coalition of the willing are to be based in Paris, he added. Mr Macron told the gathered allies: “We have a plan that is ready to go and initiate in the hours after a ceasefire.”Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky joined the call from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome alongside other allies.Also dialled in was Keith Kellogg, a retired US general and special presidential envoy to Ukraine, as well as Lindsey Graham, a Republican US senator mobilising sanctions against Russia and his Democrat colleague Richard Blumenthal.The coalition of the willing’s plans are dependent upon a US security guarantee. Mr Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine needs the US “very much” because of its sanctions against Russia, as well as military support.Alexander Butler10 July 2025 14:49Recap: UK-France cooperation ‘never been stronger’, No 10 saysThe level of co-operation with France has “never been stronger”, Downing Street has said as Sir Keir Starmer seeks to hammer out a migration deal with Emmanuel Macron.A No 10 spokesman said he would not speculate on the details of a potential agreement and that “innovative” approaches and a “targeted international response” were needed to tackle illegal migration.“Our co-operation with France has never been stronger,” he said.Asked if Sir Keir Starmer still thinks the situation in the Channel is deteriorating, he said: “We’ve been consistently clear that the numbers are unacceptable.”He welcomed the “changing tactics” of French authorities in recent weeks.He continued: “Clearly, more work needs to be done, as I say, we will approach that, whether that is investing in border security command, whether that is working with our international allies. We’re clear that this is an international problem, cracking down on these gangs cannot be done singularly.”Alexander Butler10 July 2025 14:29In pictures: Latest migrant arrivals People thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel on Thursday More

The defection of Sir Jake Berry, a former Tory chairman, to Reform was a genuine shock last night.As Kemi Badenoch prepared to give a major speech just hours later on welfare reform, it left her looking increasingly lost and irrelevant.Already, there were questions over why she had chosen today of all days to deliver a major speech when the news was very much focused on migration and the mini-summit between Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who would be grabbing the attention. But with Sir Jake’s defection, there would only ever be one subject anybody would ask her about at her press conference: “Who is leaving next?”Jake Berry, a former Conservative Party chairman, has joined Reform UK More

The threat of physical attacks by Iran on the UK now matches that of Russia, a watchdog has warned.Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee said the threat from Iran has increased “significantly” since 2022 and was “persistent” and “unpredictable”, in a report published on Thursday.Citing examples of 15 attempted murders or kidnappings of British nationals or UK residents by Iran, the committee said the physical threat posed by the country is “comparable with the threat posed by Russia”. Committee chairman Lord Beamish warned that Iran has “a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity” on foreign soil. “Its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength,” he said. Iran poses a ‘persistent’ and ‘unpredictable threat’ to the UK, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has found. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) More

Every eligible voter in Britain should be forced to cast a ballot, the Constitution Society has said, warning that plummeting turnouts are fuelling the rise of right-wing populists. The educational charity said “disastrously low” turnout as seen at the last general election (59.7 per cent) is undermining democracy and leaving the young and working class unrepresented. And it said Australian-style compulsory voting would redress the imbalance, forcing MPs and the government to pay attention to the interests of young people and renters. Voters will need to show an accepted form of photo ID at polling stations before voting in Thursday’s elections More

Nigel Farage has landed a major scalp as he seeks to revive the momentum in his flagging Reform UK party with the defection of a former Tory chair.Sir Jake Berry, who chaired the party during Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership and had been a staunch ally of Boris Johnson, has announced in an interview with The Sun that he has joined Reform.The move is a major blow to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch who had hoped she was turning the corner after a difficult start in the role.Sir Jake Berry, a former Conservative party chairman, who announced he has joined Reform UK More

Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes to secure his much vaunted “one in, one out” migrant deal with France were hanging in the balance on Wednesday night.Anglo-French talks on the scheme, which would return some illegal migrants back across the Channel, continued just hours before the start of a bilateral summit to be held on Thursday.The British prime minister had hoped he would be able to announce the migration deal before the French president’s three-day state visit ended at the end of Thursday, with some speculating it would be unveiled at the summit.However, discussions were reported to be deadlocked the night before, with the question of how much the UK will pay towards policing small boat crossings a particular sticking point. Beyond money, further obstacles reportedly cited by aides on both sides included possible legal challenges in France as well as potential opposition from other European countries.In response to reports that a deal had already been agreed and was set to be announced on Thursday, a government source told The Independent: “It’s speculation and talks are ongoing.”Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer at No 10 on Wednesday More

Bridget Phillipson has spoken of her anger over revelations of vulnerable children being placed in squalid homes including one youngster forced to live in a caravan at the cost of £75,000 for the taxpayer.The education secretary has spoken to The Independent ahead of announcing a £53 million to create up to 200 high quality places for children in care to live.The senior minister has vowed to end the practice of vulnerable children being sent to live in care in illegal homes including caravans and dirty bedsits.She warned that the practice of sending children to “illegal accommodation” would be brought to an end.Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) More

Britain and France will join together to use nuclear weapons against any “extreme threats” towards Europe, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have declared. A newly-signed declaration by the leaders will state that the two countries’ nuclear deterrents are independent but can be co-ordinated in a joint attack on Europe’s enemies. Officials warned that any adversary threatening the interests of Britain and France would be confronted by the nuclear arsenals of both nations simultaneously. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron said they would use nuclear weapons jointly More