The PM’s spokesman claimed at the Lobby briefing of political hacks today that the government will “use lessons learned from the pilot” to return small boat migrants with no right to remain, after France declined to extend the doomed ‘one in, one out’ scheme announced by Starmer and Macron last year. No10 insisted “we have a plan and it’s working”…
The first flights were held up by legal challenges and the first return did not happen until 18th September 2025. Around 1,100 people were sent back to France between September 2025 and June 2026, equivalent to 4% of small boat arrivals over that period. One man returned under the scheme came straight back on a small boat, like something out of an absurd comedy…
France wanted a broader EU-wide approach rather than remaining the UK’s only partner in the arrangement. Several other EU countries are actually now pushing for a Rwanda-style deal. 781 people crossed on 23rd September, so maybe the biggest lesson will be ‘this deal was a waste of time’…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”