Downing Street has said it expects to “make good progress” on tackling small boats crossing the Channel during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Britain.
The issue is a key point of discussion during Macron’s state visit, and on Tuesday the government said it expects new powers allowing French police to act before boats reach open water to be “operationalised soon”.
The prime minister’s spokesperson refused to say if a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal would be agreed during the French president’s visit.
But the spokesperson said months of negotiations between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Macron were “bearing fruit”.
“We continually talk, and remain in constant contact with the French on how our joint action can go further to end the misery that these gangs are inflicting across our borders,” the spokesperson added.
The prime minister is pressing to make a “one in, one out” deal the centrepiece of a new agreement with France.
The arrangement would allow Britain to return migrants who arrive by small boat to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with a family connection in the UK.
The purpose would be to demonstrate to those considering the perilous crossing that they could plausibly end up straight back in France, in the hope that this would deter them.
But any such exchanges would have to happen in large enough numbers to become an effective deterrent.
Getting a deal of this sort would be a big breakthrough as it would be the first clear sign of French willingness to take back migrants who have crossed the Channel.
But the optimism on the UK side of a deal being agreed this week is heavily qualified.
Downing Street is in separate talks with the European Commission to overcome opposition to the deal from a group of five Mediterranean countries who have complained they may be forced to accept people deported from the UK.
Sir Keir has also been pushing for France to revise its rules to allow police to intervene when boats are in shallow water, rather than requiring them still to be on land.
Last week the BBC witnessed French officers use a knife to puncture an inflatable boat after it had launched in an apparent change of tactics.
Asked about the tactics, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The French are now looking to bring in important new tactics to stop boats that are in the water, and we’re expecting that to be operationalised soon.
“We are the first government to have secured agreement from the French to review their maritime tactics so their border enforcement teams can intervene in shallow waters.
“This is operationally and legally complex, but we’re working closely with the French.”
Since coming to power in July last year, Labour has announced a series of measures to tackle people-smuggling, including a new criminal offence of endangering the lives of others at sea.
Legislation going through Parliament sets out plans to use counter-terror powers against people smugglers – with suspects facing travel bans, social-media blackouts and phone restrictions.
But the latest figures show 2025 has already set a new record for small boat arrivals in the first six months of the year, since the data was first collected in 2018.
Between January and June nearly 20,000 people arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats – up 48% compared to the same period over 2024.
The UK has repeatedly pushed France to tighten patrols along its northern coast. Since 2018 the UK has pledged more than £700m to France to boost coastal patrols and buy surveillance gear.
The majority of this came from a 2023 deal struck under the previous Conservative government to give France almost £500m over three years to go towards extra officers to help stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Asked whether the UK, as the Conservatives have suggested, should demand a refund, a Downing Street spokesperson said “under this government, we’ve secured a significant ramping up of the operational capabilities from French law enforcement”.
