Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has asserted that the UK must reject any agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron that involves accepting “undocumented males” arriving in the UK via small boats.
The Prime Minister is seeking to finalize an agreement addressing small boat crossings during President Macron’s three-day state visit, the first by a French president since 2008.
Ahead of the summit, Farage urged Sir Keir Starmer to resist yielding to an “increasingly arrogant, anti-Brexit French president” and to safeguard the UK’s authority over immigration.
Sir Keir stated he was pursuing “serious answers to serious problems” with allies, dismissing Farage’s approach as “break everything and claim that’s how you fix things”.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Farage argued that voters supported Brexit “because we wanted to take back control of our borders”.
Farage questioned, “Does the prime minister understand that demand is even greater now than it was in 2016?”
“Does he understand the country demands that you say to the French president ‘we will not accept undocumented males across the English Channel’ and that you are not dictated to by an increasingly arrogant, anti-Brexit French president?” Farage added.
In response, Sir Keir accused Farage of exploiting the issue for political advantage.
“We are fixing the mess we inherited and working with other countries to ensure we take the measures necessary to stop people crossing the Channel,” the Prime Minister stated.
“They are serious answers to serious problems.”
Sir Keir criticized the Conservative Party for adopting Farage’s strategy of “break everything and claim that’s how you fix things” and “stick two fingers up at your neighbours then expect them to work with us”.
Following PMQs, Sir Keir commenced two days of meetings with the French president at Downing Street.
While no new deal was reached, Sir Keir and Macron concurred on the need for “a new deterrent” to halt small boats, according to a summary of the meeting.
Both leaders affirmed that stopping small boat crossings was “a shared priority” and pledged to “go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions,” Downing Street reported.
The Prime Minister aims to announce a new agreement by the end of the week, potentially including a “one in, one out” migrants return policy with France.
This arrangement would allow the UK to return migrants arriving by small boat to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with family connections in the UK.
A group of five Mediterranean countries has communicated their concerns to the European Commission, fearing they may be compelled to accept individuals deported from the UK.
Sir Keir has also been advocating for France to amend its regulations to permit police intervention when boats are in shallow water, rather than requiring them to be on land.
Last week, the BBC witnessed French officers using a knife to puncture an inflatable boat after its launch, suggesting a shift in tactics.
Earlier in the Commons, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey proposed freezing new funding to the French government unless it agrees to accept the return of Channel migrants.
During PMQs, Sir Ed asserted, “The Conservative government badly undermined the security of our borders by ripping up the returns agreement that allowed us to send migrants back to Europe.”
“So I hope the prime minister can secure a new returns agreement with France that acts as a real deterrent to stop the boats,” he added.
Responding, Sir Keir stated he was meeting President Macron over two days to negotiate a new agreement and would “only provide funding that delivers for our priorities”.
Small boat arrivals reached a record high in the first half of 2025, with nearly 20,000 individuals crossing the Channel.
This occurred despite the UK allocating over £700m to France since 2018 to enhance coastal patrols and surveillance.
Following PMQs, the Prime Minister’s spokesperson indicated that the government has been “addressing the issue” of “migration pull factors”, following Macron’s remarks on the subject.
The President stated that the UK and France “would only arrive at the lasting and effective solution” to people crossing the Channel in small boats if the “pull factors” attracting them to the UK were addressed.
When questioned if Sir Keir concurred with Macron, the PM’s spokesperson replied that the government was “toughening every part of the system to ensure the rules are enforced and respected”.
He asserted that illegal working undermines businesses and wages, adding “the British public won’t stand for it and neither will this government”.
“That’s why we’ve surged illegal working raids and arrests,” he concluded.
Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to stay informed about Westminster and beyond.
Earlier this week David Jones, the former Conservative Welsh secretary, also announced his decision to join Nigel Farage’s party.
Nigel Farage’s party has recently experienced four defections from the Tories, prompting Labour to reassess its approach.
The freeze poses a risk of individuals being pushed into higher tax brackets upon receiving a pay rise.
Expectations are high for Macron’s three-day visit, but questions remain about the extent to which the two nations can truly reconcile, given past tensions stemming from Brexit negotiations.
Party leader Nigel Farage has called for a “fundamental rethink” to address the challenges facing the NHS in Wales.