Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

On the final day of his UK state visit, French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new initiative to tackle small boat crossings, hand-in-hand with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

As more than 250 migrants took advantage of calm seas to arrive in Dover, Starmer unveiled a "one in, one out" policy for new arrivals, which he hopes will take effect within weeks.

This will see migrants arriving on small boats returned to France, in exchange for asylum seekers who have not tried to enter the UK illegally - our correspondent says this is an "experiment", but one the government thinks is worth trying.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp, however, says the deal offers "no deterrent at all", while Reform leader Nigel Farage - who spent the day on the seas near Dover - calls it a "humiliation for Brexit Britain".

We're still awaiting details of how exactly the new plans on immigration will work, but our home editor writes that it is just the first step in a potentially perilous journey.

Amid the agreement on immigration, Macron also declared that the UK and France will coordinate nuclear deterrence for the first time, after also aligning defence interests to buy more cruise missiles.

As Macron heads back to Paris, we're ending our live coverage here for the day. For more on the details of the new migration deal, you can check out our news story, which will be kept up to date with all the developments.

Will the plan work?published at 19:08 British Summer Time 10 July

19:08 BST 10 July

Mark Easton
Home editor

It's very hard to demonstrate how migrants balance the risks and opportunities in deciding whether to board a flimsy dinghy to cross the Channel.

The pilot scheme being proposed is probably not at a large enough scale to act as a serious deterrent, but officials believe the arrangement has the potential to be a powerful weapon in the battle to smash the gangs and stop the boats.

Even if the arrangement can be shown to work, there will then be questions about the cost and practicalities of scaling it up to a level that will make desperate migrants waiting in the Calais camps think again about attempting to cross the Channel.

It is an idea being launched into uncharted waters.

Mark Easton
Home editor

The returns deal is designed as a deterrent to stop the boats. But the announcement of a pilot for a "one-in-one-out" scheme is just the first step in what may be a potentially perilous journey.

It is likely to encounter legal, political and practical obstacles. The need to demonstrate ‘proof of concept’ will not be straightforward.

The legal principle behind the idea is broadly sound, however.

The UN Refugee Convention does not allow migrants to choose where they claim asylum, so there is nothing necessarily unlawful about people being sent from Britain to France for processing.

The previous government’s Rwanda scheme struggled to get off the ground because the courts were persuaded the east African country was not safe enough to be compliant with the demands of the convention.

France, however, would not raise such concerns.

Legal challenges are likely to be about the details of the process. Is the system of selection fair? What might happen to people when they reach France?

One political hurdle will be convincing EU member states that Britain’s migrants won't end up back in their territory. Information stored on the EU’s Eurodac asylum database, unavailable to Britain since Brexit, might be used to identify migrants who had previously claimed asylum in another European state.

Image source, Getty Images

We can now bring you fresh comments from the mayor of Calais, who says she and other mayors of French coastal towns along the Channel are "truly, very angry" over the deal Emmanuel Macron struck with the UK.

Natacha Bouchart says the government didn't consult them about the new measures despite attempts to meet with both Macron and his interior minister, Bruno Retailleau.

"Very clearly, we already have trouble, as mayors, managing the problem of departures," she tells radio network RTL France. "And now, we feel that we will soon be dealing with the problem of returns."

"Put yourself in our shoes, and especially put yourself in the shoes of the residents for whom we've seen no consideration. Because we really have difficulty managing our daily lives."

Bouchart says local leaders are "exasperated" seeing the French government taking decisions "without wanting to consult us while we are on the front line".

Image source, PA Media

In response to Starmer and Macron's "one in, one out" deal, shadow home secretary Chris Philp says the agreement "will make no difference whatsoever".

In a video posted on X, he adds it a "pretty pathetic plan" and will offer "no deterrent at all".

He calls for a 100% returns agreement, where every single illegal immigrant arriving in the UK being returned. He says that this was the case under the Conservative's Rwanda plan which was cancelled by Starmer before it was due to start.

As a reminder, in April 2022 the Conservative government said that any asylum seeker entering the UK "illegally" after 1 January 2022, from a safe country such as France, could be sent to Rwanda. They would have their asylum claims processed there, rather than in the UK. In July last year, on his first full day as prime minister, Starmer confirmed the deportation scheme was "dead and buried", calling it a "gimmick".

Philp says "we should urgently implement a Rwanda-style returns deterrent... and that really will stop people coming over here".

Image source, EPA

We're now seeing some reaction to the announcement of the "one in, one out" deal.

Reform Leader Nigel Farage calls the UK-France agreement a "humiliation for Brexit Britain". He adds: "We have acted today as an EU member and bowed down to an arrogant French President."

During the news conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said Brexit left no way to send migrants back.

Earlier today, Farage was out on the English Channel and told GB News: "We've seen it through the binoculars, there's about 70 people on board being escorted all the way over by the French Navy. We've paid £800 million to the French, and this is the farce that goes on."

We were reporting earlier that 50 migrants could be returned to France each week under the new scheme – however, we did not hear a specific number given this afternoon.

The Home Office wouldn't speculate on how many people would actually be expelled weekly, noting that the number may vary during the pilot stage of the scheme.

During the press conference he gave with Emmanuel Macron this afternoon, Prime Minister Keir Starmer also wouldn't be drawn into the details - saying discussing could undermine "how this will operate".

Tom Symonds says the UK and France are trying to balance the safety of the people crossing with the need to stop them from crossing.

"If you didn't take care of the safety of these people then you might be criminally guilty for their deaths, or their injuries."

Once migrants are on the water, the French escort them because if they try to stop the boats on their way to Britain then people may fight back making it more likely that there could be deaths or injuries.

At the mid-Channel point, the border force take over as the view is taken that people are complying and there has been no deal - until now - to return them to France.

The affect is that all the way across the Channel, migrants are escorted across - and that is something the government do want to change, Tom adds.

Europe reporter Laura Gozzi says that it's important to remember that Emmanuel Macron is "very unpopular in France", which means he will be keen to go back to the country with some "tangible results".

Having looked at French media, Laura says the issue of Channel crossings doesn't feature in the country in the same way it does in the UK. "It's not seen as the same national migration crisis."

In France this is more of a regional issue, which is not to say that French people are not aware of what happens, but only high-profile incidents like deaths or humanitarian conditions in camps in Calais tend to break through.

"I think to a large degree, yes," says our political correspondent Damian Grammaticas.

He caveats this by saying it is also dependent on how many people continue to cross the Channel despite the push from Starmer and Macron for the deal to act as a deterrent.

For the deal to be successful, the result would need be a fall in the number of crossings, he adds.

Starmer and Macron are hoping the deterrent will be that those who are sent back after trying to cross the Channel cannot benefit from the "one in, one, out" arrangement.

Damian explain that this system has been tried before, he says the EU and Turkey have had a similar arrangement but that they also had "some aggressive boat interception tactics".

"The questions is whether this deal can work in the absence of other such tactics."

We earlier reported that it was understood that about 50 migrants could be returned to France each week under the scheme - however we did not have any number given during the news conference from Starmer and Macron.

Our correspondent Tom Symonds says that the idea behind the deal is the government wants to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel.

He adds that "to make that happen the government has to do something in return" - they say they will accept applications and asylum claims from people who have some link to the UK.

Tom says that officials at the home office have told him that the deal "is an experiment at this stage, it is something we are trying".

Tom adds that the problem the government faces is "so multifaceted that almost anything is worth trying".

We've been answering some of your questions on the BBC News Channel.

Paul Pradier
reporting from Dunkirk

Image source, BBC/Paul Pradier

As the French-UK summit was ongoing, it was a normal afternoon in the Loon-Plage camp near Dunkirk in northern France.

Migrants have formed orderly queues in the sunshine at a food distribution point organised by charity workers.

There were far fewer people in line compared to last week, according to Claire Millot, from NGO Salam.

"We usually serve 800 meals a day, but today it was only 400," she says.

Favourable weather for Channel crossings last night means that hundreds of migrants left the camp yesterday to head to so-called "waiting areas" near the beaches to try to get on small boats early this morning and cross to the UK.

We've got a team of BBC News correspondents and reporters answering your questions about the plan now.

You can watch live by pressing the button at the top of the page.

Image source, Reuters

We've just had a flurry of updates from Starmer and Macron's news conference and have distilled what we now know about the "one in, one out" migrant deal.

Starmer hails the deal as "groundbreaking", saying that migrants arriving via small boats will be "detained and returned to France in short order".

In exchange, he says, others will be allowed to come into the UK via a safe, legal and controlled route. This will be subject to "strict security checks" and will only be open to those who have not previously tried to illegally enter the UK.

The PM explains that the UK offers a "haven" for genuine asylum seekers in dire need, but adds that the country cannot solve the challenge of migration by acting alone.

He confirms the pilot migration scheme will begin "in the coming weeks".

Macron says the deal will open a way for people with family ties in the UK to cross legally but also prevent people being admitted to the UK if they manage the crossing on a one-for-one basis.

He notes that France has strengthened checks and deployed 1,200 security personnel to carry them out. He says that France and the UK are taking steps to improve co-operation with countries of origins to dismantle people smuggling gangs.

Macron says the scheme will be implemented once it has been legally verified and that he hopes this will be as rapid as possible.

The French leader says it is the first time in nine years the UK and France are "providing a response", hailing the exchange deal as an agreement that will get results.

On their nuclear doctrines, Macron says the UK and France have decided to co-ordinate in a way that no two other countries have done so.

This does not take away from the "strategic ambiguity" of it, he adds, making it clear that the two nations will remain "fully sovereign and independent" when it comes to their nuclear capabilities.

Starmer jumps in and calls it "historic", and says they have taken an "incredible step forward" in support of Europe and Nato.

The press conference has now come to an end. Stick with us as we bring you reaction and analysis.

Image source, PA Media

The PM is asked if he can guarantee the plan won't be caught up in the courts. He's also asked how the UK will select those being returned.

Macron is asked how committed he is to making the scheme work, and who is to blame for the number of small boat crossings.

Starmer addresses the final question first, saying France and the UK both have a responsibility to address the problem of illegal immigration and he won't engage in "megaphone politics" and "finger pointing".

In terms of the scheme, he says he won't go into detail - suggesting discussing it could undermine how the scheme operates - but he says it's important to see "this is a breakthrough".

Macron steps in, agreeing France also won't be trading blame and finger-point as he wants to find an efficient way to work together.

He says he's "totally committed" to making the scheme work, reiterating both nations are seeking to establish a working deterrence system. It's in the common interest, he says.

Keir Starmer picks up after Macron finishes, and notes that irregular migration is a worldwide issue, and a common problem for all European countries.

"It requires a serious pragmatic response, not the performative politics of easy answers," he adds.

As a result, Starmer says he and Macron hope to show that social democracy can provide answers to serious problems.

"It is of some significance that while we have been working hard to get a returns agreement, others have been simply taking pictures of the problem," he observes.

Image source, Reuters

Macron is now talking about investing in border protection, saying migrant smugglers are adapting to enforcement.

He adds that the UK and France must now adapt their response.

Macron continues to go after Brexit, saying the British people were "sold a lie" that the problem with migration was Europe.

The French leader says it is the first time in nine years the UK and France are "providing a response", hailing the exchange deal as a good agreement that will get results.

He adds that it will need preventatives measures to stop people wanting to come.

They are now taking questions from journalists. ITV's Robert Peston asks if a pilot scheme that sees relatively few expulsions each week will have any serious deterrent effect?

Starmer responds that it is "ground-breaking" pilot intended to "break the model".

He says if it is successful, they will ramp it up.

For years, the British government has tried to secure a deal like this – and now we've been able to agree on it because we have co-operated and collaborated through "serious diplomacy", he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Macron continues, saying France and the UK are taking steps to improve co-operation with countries of origins to dismantle people's smuggling gangs.

He says the focus remains on addressing the root causes of illegal immigration. Starmer has expressed his full support to efforts to tackle illegal work, he continues.

Macron adds that these are "strong decisions, new decisions" the two leaders have taken to enable safety and security in both countries.

He thanks the British prime minister for hosting the summit and for working to "rebuild" the trust lost following Brexit.

The two leaders shake hands and will now be answering some questions from members of the press.