WATCH NOW: Nick Thomas-Symonds hails Anglo-French efforts to curb Channel crossings
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has met with French President Emmanuel Macron during his three-day state visit to Britain
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Labour's migration record has been defended by a top cabinet minister as French President Emmanuel Macron tells Sir Keir Starmer that dealing with the crisis is a "shared responsibility".
Speaking to GB News, the Europe Minister claimed that British and French efforts to stop migrant crossings are "yielding results".
Nick Thomas-Symonds insisted the current agreement with France in tackling the small boats "is working".
He said: "There are 12,000 people who would have crossed the Channel in small boats who have not done so because of the cooperation.
"We've also managed to seize 600 boats that otherwise would have been used on that dangerous crossing in the Channel. But in addition to that as well, the law enforcement co-operation is yielding results."
Nick Thomas-Symonds has defended Labour's migrant record as he declares 30,000 people have been deported
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The minister detailed recent law enforcement successes, including a major operation in Lille this month where nine people smugglers received sentences totalling 64 years.
He explained: "Just look at the last couple of weeks, there were nine people in Lille this month where French authorities, law enforcement, and our National Crime Agency worked together so that nine people smugglers got sentenced to a total of 64 years.
"These are the people smugglers, the gang masters, who are actually doing this. And that is why it is about the deepening bilateral co-operation with the English Channel."
Thomas-Symonds also outlined the importance of a new strategic partnership with the European Union, which he led negotiations on.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is in the UK for a three-day state visit to address the migration crisis
PAHe said: "It's about the new strategic partnership that I led the negotiations on with the European Union, to allow us to share more data, things like facial recognition, things like criminal records.
"It's about work with European countries, which I've been in, Poland and Bulgaria, seeing it happening recently because people smugglers, they operate over routes of thousands of miles. That work is important to disrupt them."
Thomas-Symonds strongly defended the Government's decision to abandon the Rwanda deportation scheme, dismissing it as an expensive failure.
"Spending £700million on a gimmick that sent four volunteers to Rwanda was not a piece of serious policy-making," he stated.
Thomas-Symonds told GB News that tackling the migrant crisis is 'not about gimmicks'
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He argued that genuine deterrence comes from consistent deportation actions rather than what he characterised as "performative politics" and "gimmicks", emphasising the need for practical solutions over symbolic gestures in addressing immigration challenges.
The Government has deported 30,000 individuals who were found to have no right to remain in the UK since taking office, according to Thomas-Symonds.
"That is the hard yards of action that this Government is taking, recognising, yes, it's a complex problem, but this is not about performative politics. It's not about gimmicks. It's about doing the hard yards," he said.
He concluded: "We've got our borders bill giving counter-terror powers to our law enforcement to tackle people smugglers. The Conservatives and Reform are opposing that, and they should explain why."