London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Channel migrants: France to propose deal with UK

Channel migrants: France to propose deal with UK

France is ready for talks with the UK over a deal to tackle the migrant crisis, the interior minister said.

Gerald Darmanin said prime minister Jean Castex will write to Boris Johnson with proposals for a "balanced agreement" between the UK and the EU.

The UK was excluded from talks on Sunday after Mr Johnson angered French President Emmanuel Macron by posting a letter to him on Twitter.

Mr Darmanin told journalists Mr Castex's letter would not be published.

The two countries needed to work together to deal with a shared problem, he told a press conference on Monday.

"From the moment there is no more double-speak, and we can discuss in a serious spirit, and our private exchanges correspond to our public exchanges, the French government is ready to very quickly resume discussions with Great Britain," Mr Darmanin said.

The proposals by Mr Castex could include ways to open up legal routes to the UK and for asylum seekers and to allow unaccompanied minors to join relatives in Britain, he said.

However he said the practice of turning back boats at sea, as suggested in Mr Johnson's letter, was "a red line for the French government".

Meanwhile, Downing Street has dismissed a claim from French Europe minister Clement Beaune that the UK had an economic model of "quasi-modern slavery" involving illegal work.

The UK prime minister's official spokesman said No 10 did not agree with the statement. But it acknowledged a "need to fix our broken asylum system so that we can stop this parallel illegal route being exploited and break these criminal gangs who are exploiting vulnerable people".

"That's why we are driving through the changes in our Nationality and Borders Bill," the spokesman said.

"We have a strict regime and all those seeking to work in the UK must show documentary evidence of their right to do so before an employer can hire them," he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson angered French President Emmanuel Macron by tweeting a letter to him


The diplomatic row between the two countries erupted after 27 people drowned when their small boat capsized in the English Channel.

Mr Johnson tweeted a copy of his letter to Mr Macron calling for joint patrols on French beaches and for migrants who succeeded in making the dangerous Channel crossing to be returned to France.

Mr Macron said it was not a serious way to negotiate, while Home Secretary Priti Patel had her invitation withdrawn from a meeting in Calais with ministers from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to discuss the crisis.

The BBC's Paris correspondent Lucy Williamson tweeted that the French Interior Minister told journalists on Monday night: "We won't be publishing [Mr Castex's latter] on Twitter". Note that it's Castex, not Macron engaging with British PM now."

Meanwhile Mr Johnson is due to hold talks online with another of the key European players - Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo.

Downing Street continues to insist a returns agreement, as set out by Mr Johnson in his letter, would be the "single biggest deterrent" to migrants attempting the Channel crossing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×