Shabana Mahmood told to tear up '21,600-in, 498-out' deal as GB News exposes £100m French 'farce'

Jack Walters
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:00:02 +0000

Shabana Mahmood has been told to tear up Labour’s “one-in, one-out” deal as new analysis by GB News exposes how more than 21,100 migrants ignored warnings about being transferred to France in the first eight months of the pilot scheme.

The Home Secretary, who inherited the £100million 10-month scheme from Yvette Cooper in September 2025, must determine whether to negotiate the continuation of the scheme by June 10.

Despite Ms Mahmood previously hailing the agreement as a key deterrent to small boat migrants camped in Calais, GB News can reveal that a staggering 21,172 migrants have completed the perilous 21-mile journey since the “one-in, one-out” deal was enforced on August 6, 2025.

The People's Channel can also confirm an additional 482 asylum seekers have been transferred from France to the UK under the pilot scheme, with 498 small boat migrants being returned across the Channel after landing on British shores.

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GB News's provisional figures indicate 698 small boat migrants have already crossed the Channel in the first nine days of April, exactly 200 more than the total returned to France since August last year.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp is now branding Ms Mahmood's “one-in, one-out” deal “farcical”.

Mr Philp told GB News: “This weak Home Secretary’s small boat policy lies in tatters.

"More illegal immigrants have crossed the channel under Keir Starmer than any other Prime Minister and numbers are up 45 per cent since the election. Their claim to smash the gangs is a laughing stock.”

He added: “Since the ‘one-in, one-out’ deal started, two per cent of those arriving have been removed. Allowing 98 per cent of the illegal immigrants to stay is obviously no deterrent at all.

“It’s no wonder numbers continue to flood in. The only solution is to leave the ECHR, which will enable us to deport all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then the crossings will soon end.”

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf also said: “Keir Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal was nothing more than a hopeless gimmick, and this proves it.

"Tens of thousands of illegal migrants have arrived since the so-called ‘deterrent’ began, yet only a few hundred have been sent back.

“As long as the incentives remain, people will keep invading Britain. Only Reform UK will end the handouts and detain and deport every illegal migrant.”

The overall figure – 21,654 – is only marginally lower than the 26,874 who crossed the Channel between August 2024 and April 2025.

It also equates to around 43 migrants entering the UK for every one returned to France.

After entering the Home Office, Ms Mahmood hailed the “one-in, one-out” deal as a deterrent to thousands of migrants in Calais.

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She said: “You start with a small first step and then you ramp up, which is exactly what we're going to be doing.

“I want us to get to a point where the numbers that are being removed are acting as a deterrent and stop people getting on the boats in the first place.”

However, Labour has failed to reach its pledge to ramp up removals to 50 a week, with an average of just under 15 removals taking place every seven days since the deal was enforced in August 2025.

Sir Keir’s plan to curb Channel crossings initially faced a similar challenge to Mr Sunak’s short-lived £365million Rwanda scheme.

The removal of an Eritrean asylum seeker was halted just last month after a High Court judge raised concerns about the 31-year-old facing harm if he was forcibly removed.

Another case saw a 25-year-old small boat migrant receive a 14-day reprieve to make representations to support his claim about being a victim of modern slavery.

A former Home Office official said: “The Government’s flagship policy has proven to be useless at stopping the boats.

“If there’s only a two per cent chance of being returned to France, it’s little wonder the boats keep coming.

“And you simply cannot rely on the French to solve this problem.”

Ex-Immigration Minister Kevin Foster added: “The Government needs to stop coming up with slogans and start implementing a real strategy, one which learns from Australia and the United States who have used comprehensive strategies to sort problems like this and restore order at their borders.”

GB News revealed earlier this week that more than 5,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in 2026, taking the total under Sir Keir Starmer’s watch to 69,850.

The Prime Minister’s record in his first 21 months in power now vastly outstrips Boris Johnson’s 65,811 total over 39 months and Rishi Sunak’s 50,637

However, maritime sources have told GB News that choppier conditions in the Channel at the start of 2026 have had an impact on recent waves of arrivals.

A shocking 168 asylum seekers have died while trying to complete the 21-mile journey since 2018, including two men and two women yesterday.

Fresh reports of new arrivals and tragedies in the Channel coincide with Ms Mahmood being locked in talks with Emmanuel Macron to ensure French officials patrol the coastline.

French negotiators rejected Ms Mahmood’s proposal to let the British send its own vessels into French waters.

The Home Secretary is expected to hand over an extra £650million to France, taking Britain’s border bill to an eyewatering £1.4billion.

British taxpayers have already spent £100million on the “one-in, one-out” scheme and coughed up £476million for Mr Sunak’s initial deal with France.

The Sandhurst Treaty Commitment of 2018 saw the UK hand over an extra £45.5million, with £55million and £63million payments being made in 2021 and 2022.

Despite Britain’s border bill ballooning, just 2,064 out of 6,233 attempted crossings in the first 12 weeks of 2026 were stopped, equating to around 33.1 per cent.

The figure is down compared to the 35.1 per cent rate recorded last year and the 26.7 per cent figure in 2024.

The current trajectory suggests 2026 could mark the lowest rate of interceptions since the small boats crisis began in 2018, down from a peak of 46.9 per cent in 2023.

However, nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals have been returned or deported from the UK between the 2024 General Election and January 31, 2026 – up 31 per cent on the 19 months prior.

A Home Office spokesman said: “This Government is bearing down on small boat crossings.

“We have stopped over 42,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the channel since the election. We have removed or deported almost 60,000 people who were here illegally.

“But we are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country and increase removals and deportations of those with no right to be here.”