The UK’s “one-in-one-out” migrant deal with France could end within weeks with no guarantee the controversial scheme will be extended beyond October, The i Paper can reveal.
It is understood that negotiations with the French have not yet started despite the current agreement expiring in less than two months.
Under the terms of Sir Keir Starmer’s deal, which began last September, asylum seekers who cross the English Channel in small boats face being forcibly returned to France in exchange for others who have not tried to enter the UK illegally.
Migrant advocacy groups have criticised the deal for being “a cynical bargaining over human lives” while the opposition parties have slammed it as unworkable and “another Labour gimmick”.
The pilot scheme was initially due to end in June but was extended to October to “ensure we will continue to remove migrants who arrive on small boats over the summer”, according to a Home Office spokesperson.
