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Sir Keir Starmer is set to host French President Emmanuel Macron on a three-day state visit with irregular migration and defence on the agenda, but a deal to allow the UK to return asylum seekers to France is yet to be reached.
Macron will give a speech before parliament on Tuesday to be followed on Thursday by in-depth talks with the UK prime minister, just before a virtual meeting with Ukraine’s European backers about maintaining military support as Russia steps up attacks.
But UK government aides, while not ruling it out, have talked down the likelihood of sealing a so-called “one-in-one-out” deal on migration during the visit.
Being discussed is a pilot programme that would permit the UK to send back to France one person who arrived illegally by boat. In return Britain would accept a person deemed to have a higher chance of having their application accepted, such as for family reunification.
The thorny issue of migration is a clear gap between the two countries that otherwise hope to show off their partnership.
The UK government has emphasised the close nature of the relationship with France, describing it as “stronger than it’s ever been”. The Elysée palace has called the state visit, the first since Brexit, a sign of “shared interests and renewed convergences”.
But Starmer is determined to show he is getting a grip on the so-called “small boats” situation, which has seen the number of irregular migrants crossing from France surge almost 50 per cent to near 20,000 arrivals in the first half of this year.
At the G7 in Canada, the UK went as far as admitting the situation in the channel was “deteriorating” and Starmer has pushed for “innovative ways to drive forward progress”.
“There is no silver bullet, we’ve been quite clear about that, but our work with the French is a key part of it,” a UK government spokesperson said on Monday.
“We are always looking at options to disrupt, tackle, illegal migration to the UK. We expect to make progress on a wide range of issues,” they added.
The UK has long pressured France to do more to stop departures along the coastline. It has agreed to send around £700mn to France from 2018 to 2025 to buy additional equipment, like drones, and hire hundreds more police to patrol beaches.
French police have also recently made a show of additional efforts they are making to stop boats in shallow waters, including using a controversial tactic of cutting open inflatable rafts, often with dozens of people onboard, as they embark for the UK.
The warmer Franco-British relationship is part of a larger reset of relations with the EU that Starmer has pursued. In May, he signed an initial accord with Brussels that includes co-operation on defence and security, as well as smoothing trade in food and agricultural products.
As a formal state visit Macron will also have time with King Charles, ahead of the monarch’s expected meeting with US President Donald Trump later this year.
Another issue on the agenda is the Sizewell C nuclear project in Suffolk under development by France’s state-owned energy company EDF. The UK government and a consortium of private investors are closing in on a final investment decision to take stakes in the project.
An announcement had been expected at the summit but timetables have likely slipped, the FT previously reported.
Starmer and Macron have also worked closely together in recent months to rally support for Ukraine and lobby Trump not to abandon Kyiv.
The two leaders have in the past travelled to Kyiv together, and during the visit, they will try to revive their so-called coalition of the willing — a loose group of European countries, including Germany, which have pledged to support Ukraine’s military now and after any ceasefire with Russia.
As Trump threatened to scale back support for Ukraine earlier this year, Macron and Starmer floated the idea of deploying a “reassurance force” of troops from willing European countries to act as a de facto security guarantee after a ceasefire.
They then said it could consist of “boots on the ground and planes in the air”, but no consensus has been reached because some countries remain reluctant to commit if the US does not promise to backstop the deployment.
US efforts to broker a peace between Ukraine and Russia have foundered, delaying any discussion of postwar arrangements. Downing Street and the Elysée have insisted the coalition is still an active plan.
“We want to symbolically mark the fact that France and Britain are working together on the coalition of the willing,” said the Elysée palace.
On Monday, Starmer held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said they would update on the “significant progress being made by military planners”.
“The recent Russian attacks reinforced the need for Ukraine’s friends and allies to focus both on ensuring Ukraine had the support it needed to defend itself, while also planning for a post-ceasefire future,” Starmer said.
