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Published On 9 Jul 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day authorities sojourn to the United Kingdom has moved from the genteel royal pomp and ceremony to the harder edges of the governmental realm arsenic his hosts are expected to property for caller measures to curb undocumented migration successful crunch talks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was acceptable to propulsion Macron to bash much to halt exile and migrant crossings crossed the English Channel arsenic the 2 leaders met Wednesday astatine 10 Downing Street.
The fig of refugees and migrants arriving connected England’s confederate seashore via tiny boats from bluish France is simply a large governmental contented for the Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK enactment marque important governmental gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform.
The talks travel connected Macron’s 2nd time of his sojourn to the UK, which began with a lukewarm invited from King Charles III and members of the royal household and a lavish banquet astatine Windsor Castle.
It’s the archetypal authorities sojourn by a French president to the UK since Nicolas Sarkozy successful 2008 and the archetypal by a European Union caput of authorities since Brexit was made authoritative successful 2020. Macron’s travel came astatine the invitation of King Charles III.
‘One in-one out’ woody not favoured by EU
Macron addressed the British parliament connected Tuesday, promising to present connected measures to chopped the fig of radical crossing the English Channel, describing the contented arsenic a “burden” to some countries. He besides said that France and the UK had a “shared work to code irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness”.
Britain hopes to onslaught a “one in, 1 out” woody to nonstop tiny vessel refugees and migrants backmost to the continent, successful speech for the UK accepting asylum seekers successful Europe who person a British link, the home Press Association quality bureau reported.
France has antecedently refused to motion specified an agreement, saying the UK should negociate an statement with each European Union countries.
“This woody is acold from being finished due to the fact that determination is simply a batch of absorption from definite European nations, which are usually the larboard of introduction for radical seeking to travel to Europe, places similar Spain, Malta, Italy, Greece and Cyprus,” said Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London.
“That is due to the fact that nether EU law, successful theory, France could conscionable determination connected the radical they person from Britain and onto those countries, the archetypal larboard of introduction countries, to assertion asylum there. So Keir Starmer doesn’t lone request to person President Macron of this deal, but helium besides has rather important stumbling blocks erstwhile it comes to convincing different European nations.”
In parliament Nigel Farage, person of Reform UK, challenged Starmer to “say to the French president we volition not judge undocumented males crossed the English Channel”.
There has been expanding vexation successful the UK implicit backing for France to forestall refugees and migrants mounting disconnected and a instrumentality that prevents constabulary intercepting boats portion successful the h2o adjacent to shore.
“We volition lone supply backing that delivers for our priorities,” Starmer told parliament, adding that Britain had persuaded the French “to reappraisal their laws and tactics connected the northbound seashore to instrumentality much effectual action”.
“I’ll beryllium discussing this astatine meetings with President Macron,” helium added.
After helium took powerfulness a twelvemonth ago, Starmer promised to “smash the gangs”, getting thousands of radical onto the tiny boats – lone to spot numbers emergence to grounds levels.
More than 21,000 radical person crossed from bluish France to southeast England successful basal vessels this year, connected a perilous journey.
The Macrons began the 2nd time of their sojourn by paying their respects astatine the tomb of the precocious Queen Elizabeth II astatine Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.
Macron past discussed biodiversity issues with the king during a stroll successful the castle grounds earlier helium bade farewell to his big and headed to cardinal London.
At Tuesday evening’s banquet, Charles utilized a code to astir 160 guests – including royals, Starmer and euphony icons Elton John and Mick Jagger – to pass that the 2 nations’ confederation was arsenic important arsenic ever amid a “multitude of analyzable threats”.
Macron had besides said successful his code to parliament that “Britain and France were excessively babelike connected the US and China, and that they truly request to instrumentality associated decisions connected defence and information adjacent though Britain has near the European Union, arsenic geographically it is portion of Europe,” said Veselinovic.
Charles concluded by toasting a caller UK-France “entente… nary longer conscionable cordiale, but present amicale”, prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our 2 fraternal peoples successful an unwavering alliance”.
Macron is owed to sojourn the British Museum to formally denote the indebtedness of the celebrated Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to instrumentality for the archetypal clip successful much than 900 years. London, successful exchange, volition indebtedness Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies