Downing Street has said it is "open" to discussions on a new EU-wide "one in, one out" migrant deal, after France's interior minister Laurent Nunez indicated Paris wants to end the current bilateral arrangement with Britain. The existing scheme, agreed between Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer last summer, only covers returns to France and is due to expire on 1 October; France wants it replaced with a broader EU-UK mechanism covering several member states. The move matters because it could reshape how the UK handles Channel crossings, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood keen to make an expanded, permanent arrangement a stronger deterrent.

Under the current deal, Britain has returned around 1,400 Channel migrants to France while accepting a similar number of asylum seekers in return, against more than 17,000 small boat arrivals so far this year. Critics, including shadow home secretary Chris Philp, argue the scheme is largely ineffective since returns represent under 5% of arrivals, despite the UK giving France £660 million. Prime Minister Andy Burnham reportedly lobbied Macron directly last week to extend the scheme, while crossings are down over 40% year-on-year even as smugglers increasingly use larger "mega-dinghies" capable of carrying more than 100 people.