Starmer’s migrant deal is just a sticking plaster
From our UK edition
As French President Emmanuel Macron visited Britain this week for the first French state visit in over a decade, a deal on tackling small boat migrants became the trip's centrepiece. Ahead of the visit, in an apparent sign of greater co-operation, French police were filmed wading into the water to slash the sides of an inflatable migrant boat with knives, preventing it from attempting to cross the English Channel. The relative ease with which they were able to do so proves that France could prevent many Channel crossings if they wanted to. But the deal that has emerged is thin gruel. Other EU nations – including Spain, Italy, and Greece – have objected based on concerns that they might be obliged to take migrants returned to France.
