Labour's "one in, one out" deal with France, which allowed small boat migrants to be returned whilst accepting an equivalent number of legal migrants to the UK, has been scrapped after just over a year of operation. The scheme's failure represents a significant setback for the Government's efforts to tackle the Channel crisis, particularly given recent progress with small boat arrivals at their lowest in six years.

Since the first removal in September last year, over 1,500 migrants were returned to France whilst "just under" 1,500 came to the UK under the reciprocal arrangement. However, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood revealed that costs had risen to £56,000 per migrant and acknowledged the scheme had been "operationally difficult to scale up" to handle large numbers weekly. France has indicated it prefers a wider arrangement encompassing migrants from across the European Union, not solely from the UK.