RETURNS 'IN WEEKS'

Starmer & Macron hail new agreement | PM says it turns tables' on traffickers

- DAVE BURKE

KEIR Starmer last night said his "groundbreaking" migrant returns agreement with France should be up and running within a matter of weeks.

The Prime Minister claimed the scheme, agreed in crunch talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in London, could "break the model" of people-smuggling gangs.

Under the "one-in, one-out" plan, some migrants arriving by small boats will be sent back to France and the UK will accept an equivalent number of asylum seekers in exchange.

The breakthrough - which will start as a pilot scheme comes after years of trying to secure a returns agreement with France, to replace legal rights lost when Britain left the EU. Starmer said it would "finally turn the tables" on the small boats crisis.

He also lashed out at Reform leader Nigel Farage, who spent yesterday watching boats crammed with men, women and children crossing the Channel.

During a press conference alongside Macron, the PM criticised "performative politics of the easy answer", adding, "While we've been working hard on a returns agreement, others have been taking photos."