Politics LIVE: Keir Starmer agrees pilot 'one-in, one-out' migrant return deal with Emmanuel Macron

Sir Keir Starmer says it is 'right' to accept genuine asylum seekers

The Prime Minister said it is "right" to accept genuine asylum seekers as he announced a landmark migrant return deal with France.

Sir Keir Starmer said: "We accept genuine asylum seekers because it is right that we offer a haven to those in most dire need.

"But there’s also something else here, something more practical which is that we simply cannot solve a challenge like stopping the boats by acting alone and telling our allies that we won’t play ball."

European peacekeeping force HQ to be based in PARIS, Keir Starmer admits

Plans for a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine if and when Russia's war ends are now "mature" after months of planning, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Speaking at a group call alongside "Coalition of the Willing" allies, Emmanuel Macron described the PM's plans as "ready to go" once a ceasefire is agreed.

Starmer said: "I am very pleased to say today that these plans are mature and we are putting them on a long-term footing."

New headquarters for the coalition of the willing are to be based in Paris, he added.

Macron added: "We have a plan that is ready to go and initiate in the hours after a ceasefire."

Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky joined the call from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome alongside other allies.

Also dialled in was Keith Kellogg, a retired US general and special presidential envoy to Ukraine, as well as Lindsey Graham, a Republican US senator mobilising sanctions against Russia and his Democrat colleague Richard Blumenthal.

The coalition's plans are dependent upon a US security guarantee.

And Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine needs the US "very much" because of its sanctions against Russia, as well as military support.

Chris Philp repeats Labour's 'one-in, one-out' attack line in fresh swipe at Reform

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has repeated Labour's "one-in, one-out" attack line against Reform UK today.

Defectors from his party are "doing the wrong thing" and "have made a mistake", he said.

Philp added: "It's not going to change the political weather in any way. Reform UK seems to be running their own one-in, one-out policy."

MINUTES remain until press conference as migrant returns talks 'going down to the wire'

Under an hour remains until this afternoon's much-anticipated 3.30pm press conference with Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.

Negotiations over key details of the Angloe-French migrant returns deal are said to be going down to the wire.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper arrived at No10 at around 7.50am today ahead of the crunch summit.

PICTURED: Channel migrant gives V-sign after arriving in Dover

Kemi Badenoch likens defectors to 'banana republics' as Tory leader reels from latest Reform UK switch

Kemi Badenoch has said Tory-Reform UK defectors behave "like they do in banana republics" after her party was rocked by another switch late last night.

"This is something which I say again and again, that there are a lot of people who come into politics just to play the game of politics, and they will follow polls and defect wherever they can, like they do in banana republics, to wherever they think that they can win," she fumed.

"We have to do more than win. We have to be ready with a plan."

She added: "All of the people who are not interested in coming up with a proper policy plan and just want to jump ship are welcome to do so.

"Because when the time comes at the next general election, the public are going to be looking for a serious, credible alternative."

She later jabbed that defectors have "probably been holding us back for a long time" as she repeatedly refused to apologise for her party's record in power.

Labour's Lucy Powell takes 'one-in, one-out' swipe at Reform UK as clock ticks on migrant returns deal

Reform UK is "really enthusiastically implementing a policy of one in, one out", Commons leader Lucy Powell has said, after James McMurdock resigned the party whip.

Powell said she did not expect Nigel Farage's party to "welcome" efforts to set up a one in, one out Channel migrant deal with France during Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK.

"But when it comes to their own party, they're already really enthusiastically implementing a policy of one in, one out," Powell crowed to the Commons.

Nine MPs have been suspended, expelled or have resigned from the Labour Party since the General Election.

Kemi Badenoch warns Labour 'beholden to left-wing MPs' as Tory chief outlines benefits plan

Kemi Badenoch has warned that Labour is "beholden to left-wing MPs" and "completely unprepared for government" in a landmark speech outlining her party's benefits plans today.

Badenoch, whose party has slumped to 10 percentage points behind Reform UK in the polls, is expected to accuse Nigel Farage's party and Labour of "turning a blind eye" to the impact of Britain's surging benefits bill.

Faage has vowed to scrap the two-child benefit cap if Reform UK comes to power, something the Conservatives have warned is unaffordable.

"Nigel Farage pretends to be a Thatcherite Conservative but really, he's just Jeremy Corbyn with a pint and a cigarette.

"On welfare he shows his true colours - promising unaffordable giveaways with no plan to fix the system," she will say.

The Tory chief is speaking now. You can follow her address on the live stream above, and we'll bring you the top lines from her speech as they come in...

Emmanuel Macron piles pressure on 'Med Five' countries after 'serious concerns' raised over migrant plans

Emmanuel Macron has piled pressure on the so-called "Med Five" countries to "take responsibility" for the situation in the Channel after they raised "serious concerns" over a looming migrant returns deal.

"We share the same will to tackle networks of illegal immigration through great co-ordination with other European countries," he said at No10 today.

"We have often mentioned France is the last destination before Great Britain for these men and women who often journey through paths of misery and are exploited by traffickers.

"We will work with countries of first entry in Europe [as] our intention is also to engage all countries who share a responsibility alongside us."

The "Med Five" includes Spain, Greece, Italy, Malta and Cyprus - all of which are forced to contend with direct boat arrivals from North Africa.

'Disappointed but not surprised!' Furious Tories take personal swipe at Jake Berry as ex-chairman joins Reform UK

Jake Berry has been subjected to the fury of his local Conservative branch after he defected to Reform UK.

The former Tory chairman announced his switch to Nigel Farage's surging party last night as he warned: "Britain is broken. It didn't start with Labour. The Conservative governments I was part of share the blame."

Now, the Rossendale and Darwen Conservative Association has unleashed a lengthy statement in response, taking a series of verbal barbs at its former MP.

"We are disappointed, though not surprised, by Jake's decision to defect," a statement fumes.

"His defection says far more about him than it does about the modern Conservative Party... The truth is that jake never truly recovered from the downfall of Liz Truss - a Prime Minister whose brief and chaotic tenure he enthusiastically supported."

"His decision to abandon the party that gave him his platform, indeed his career, will be seen by many as a betrayal," it adds.

Last night, Berry added: "Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again.

"The only way we get that is with Reform in government. That's why I've resigned from the Conservative Party. I'm now backing Reform UK and working to make them the next party of government."

Macron welcomes Starmer's efforts to 're-engage with Europe' after Brexit

French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Sir Keir Starmer for "re-engaging with Europe" after Brexit.

Macron said that the UK and France form the “bedrock of this European Nato pillar”.

He said today’s France-UK summit would take military cooperation between the two countries “to the next level”.

The French President also argued that the Prime Minister's decision to “re-engage with Europe” was a “paramount priority in an increasingly uncertain world” .

'Migrant crisis cannot go on,' declares Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has said that the small boats crisis “cannot go on”.

The Prime Minister said: “We all agree the situation in the Channel cannot go on as it is so we are bringing new tactics into play and a new level of intent to tackle illegal migration and break the business model of the criminal gangs.”

Nigel Farage reignites 'women and children' row with Darren Jones as 95 PER CENT of migrants crossing Channel today revealed to be men

Nigel Farage has reignited a bitter feud with Labour minister Darren Jones over the latter's claim that the "vast majority" of Channel-crossing migrants are women and children.

A few weeks ago, Jones had said "the majority of the people in these boats" are women and childrensaid "the majority of the people in these boats" are women and children.

Home Office data at the time, meanwhile, showed that almost three-quarters of illegal migrants are adult men.

Today, almost 95 per cent of migrants palmed off to Britain this morning were male - with 74 men, one woman and three children handed to the Border Force by France.

And Farage has turned up the heat on the Treasury Minister as a result.

"There are 78 illegal migrants on board this boat in the English Channel," he said.

"Only four of them are women and children. Are you watching, Darren?"

PM teases 'new tactics' to cut illegal migration as he warns: 'It can't go on!'

Britain will address illegal migration with "new tactics" and a "new level of intent", Sir Keir Starmer said as the Franco-British summit began.

Starmer vowed: "In uncertain times, we achieve more by strengthening our relationship with our allies, so that is what today is all about working together on the priorities that we share as two nations.

"For us, it's about delivering the changes that the British people want to see, and we will agree the situation in the Channel cannot go on as it is.

"So we're bringing new tactics into play and a new level of intent to tackle illegal migration and break the business model of the criminal gangs."

PICTURED: Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron chair Franco-British summit

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron beaming as Franco-British summit begins

French President Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer embraced, smiled and gave out a "thumbs-up" before the Franco-British summit this morning.

The pair shook hands and posed for photographs outside Downing Street before entering - and inside, they are expected to discuss migration as negotiators battle to secure a "one-in, one-out" deal before 3.30pm.

Nigel Farage twists knife on UK-France migrant deal as Reform chief spots small boats in Channel with GB News

Nigel Farage has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer's impending migrant returns deal with France as he spotted small boats crossing the Channel on a visit with GB News this morning.

The Reform UK leader blasted: "At the same time Starmer is meeting with Macron to discuss migrants, the French Navy are escorting 70 illegals into British waters."

WATCH IN FULL: Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary Helen Whately speaks to GB News Breakfast

WATCH IN FULL: Liberal Democrats net zero spokeswoman Pippa Heylings speaks to GB News Breakfast

WATCH: Nigel Farage reacts as migrant boat with at least 70 people on board is escorted to British waters

Ed Miliband backs down on 'postcode pricing' energy bills plan 

Ed Miliband has backed down on plans to split Britain into different energy pricing "zones".

The Energy Secretary had been considering proposals for zonal pricing that would see different areas of the country pay different rates for their electricity, based on local supply and demand.

But the Government has now decided to retain a single national wholesale price.

Miliband said: "Building clean power at pace and scale is the only way to get Britain off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets and protect families and businesses for good.

"As we embark on this new era of clean electricity, a reformed system of national pricing is the best way to deliver an electricity system that is fairer, more affordable, and more secure, at less risk to vital investment in clean energy than other alternatives."

'Significant' roadblocks still threatening Anglo-French migrant deal - reports

Significant obstacles still stand in the way of an Anglo-French migrant deal, including money, legal challenges in France and furious opposition from southern European countries.

One British official said the talks were "complex" and "fluid" - and warned that other EU countries needed to be consulted on its final workings alongside France.

Downing Street, meanwhile, vowed that Prime Minister was hoping to make "concrete progress" on a range of issues including illegal migration at the summit.

A French source, meanwhile, told The Guardian that Paris's demands for more money for police on its north coast were "clearly very politically sensitive" for the UK.

Negotiations stretched long into Wednesday evening - and aides on both sides said there remained significant areas of disagreement, one of which is money.

Under Rishi Sunak, Britain signed a £480m deal to pay for additional border patrols and surveillance equipment such as drones and night-vision binoculars.

Since then, France has agreed to intercept boats in the sea as far as 300 metres from their shore, and are now asking for even more cash for police officers, boats and drones to enforce that policy.

Emmanuel Macron has consistently warned of "pull factors" for illegal migrants to Britain such as illegal working.

The PM has announced a number of policies in an attempt to slash illegal work, including more immigration enforcement raids.

One Government aide said: "If the French were asking us to do more illegal working raids, we would be fine with that."

RECAP: As hours remain until crunch press conference... Britain to send back just 6% of migrants in new deal with Emmanuel Macron

Britain will only be able to return around six per cent of small boat migrants to France under a “one-in, one-out” deal being negotiated between Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron.

The UK will send back 50 migrants per week, according to French newspaper reports, meaning one in 17 Channel crossers will be sent back to Calais.

However, it is understood that the UK Government aims to increase these figures after the scheme has launched.

More than 44,000 migrants have arrived in the UK since Labour won the 2024 General Election.

The two leaders held talks in Downing Street to negotiate the deal, which will see the French take back illegal small boat migrants in return for Britain accepting asylum seekers from France.

READ YESTERDAY'S POLITICAL COVERAGE IN FULL HERE