Andy Burnham faces a fresh crisis over the UK migrant deal with France.
Burnham faces a fresh blow from France (Image: Getty)
GB News was halted for a major breaking alert in a huge blow to Prime Minister Andy Burnham over reports that France wants to end the one-in-one-out migrant deal with the UK. The plan, which was formalised in August 2025 by former Labour leader Keir Starmer and France‘s Emmanuel Macron, states that migrants who arrive illegally in the UK by small boat can be sent back to France. In return, the UK will take the same number of migrants from that European country who have not previously tried to cross the Channel and have passed security and eligibility checks.
Addressing Macron’s sudden U-Turn, GB News guest and former Tory MP Louise Mensch stated: “What they really want is for us to take migrants from other countries, so that we can deport them back to other countries and not send them to France.” She added: “That is just obviously, really, an ending of this agreement, it really is France just slapping Andy Burnham round the face. The Burnham boats are going to keep on coming, keep on landing, because there is no such European deal.
Starmer and Macron finalised the deal in August 2025 (Image: Getty)
On GB News, Louise continued: “None of the other European countries have agreed to take migrants from us, so when France says ‘oh well we can get an EU deal,’ I say ‘where is this deal?’
“This current deal is due to end at the end of this month on the first of October, and France has got absolutely no intention of carrying on with it and to my mind, it’s like ‘will it really make a difference’ because what has France actually done? Have they stopped a single boat? No, they escort them across the Channel, they give them life jackets, they literally help them come to Britain.
“So, I don’t know how much worse it could be. I don’t see this deal working for us at all anyway,” the former politician concluded.
According to reports, Burnham pleaded with Macron to renew the arrangement, but one government source alleged France was “on the verge of pulling out” of the talks after it emerged French interior minister Laurent Nunez wants to replace the scheme for an EU-wide agreement, in which Britain sends back small boat migrants in return for legitimate asylum seekers from across the bloc.
Louise blasted France’s migrant deal U-turn (Image: GB News)
Mr Nunez told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that the current deal “was not intended to be renewed beyond October 1”, pushing for a broader mechanism in the style of the Dublin agreement, which existed before Britain left the EU, The Telegraph reports.
In June, he told a French parliamentary inquiry: “For our part, we want to move away from this bilateral relationship with the UK.
“We consider that France should not have to carry it alone, and that it would be better to integrate it into an agreement between the EU and the UK.”
When questioned if a replacement scheme could be launched in October, Mr Nunez said: “There is an action plan, there is interest, but it would be naive of me to tell you there will be a mechanism to bridge the gap.”