Starmer's EU reset fails to secure the one thing the British public wants
Sir Keir Starmer claims his Brexit reset deal will be ' good for our borders '.
But it won't even let him send back Channel migrants to France, which is the one thing the public would expect from a Prime Minister cosplaying at being tough on immigration to counter the rise of Reform UK.
Britain has not been able to return illegal immigrants to an EU country since Brexit took practical effect in January 2021 and the UK left the bloc's Dublin regulations.
The reset does not include a UK-EU migrant-returns deal, or even the promise to discuss one in the future. It was not even part of these talks with our nearest neighbours.
'I have been following these talks for the last two months and that was never on the table,' said an EU diplomat.
Sir Keir has got vague language promising to work together on fighting illegal immigration and to boost cooperation with Europol in a 'document of common understanding', which will be published at Monday's UK-EU summit.
'This is very declaratory. It is about the direction of travel rather than something concrete' said a second EU diplomat, 'and there is nothing in it about a UK-EU migrant-return deal.'
Labour certainly wants an EU migrant-return deal. Before the general election, it reportedly was willing to take in resettled refugees from the EU to get one before walking that back after public outcry.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said a deal has to be struck at European level before France will accept any returned small-boat migrants from the UK.
Germany and Belgium have also turned down British overtures for bilateral return deals, instead insisting negotiations must be done with Brussels.
The European Commission refused to negotiate a replacement deal for Dublin in the original Brexit negotiations. Despite all the warm talk of new beginnings, nothing has changed.
An EU-wide deal needs the unanimous backing of all 27 member states. Greece and Italy don't want to take back migrants. Hungary's anti-migrant government has ruled out the British deal.
The Prime Minister decided not to ask for something he didn't think he'd get, which is unambitious. It would be difficult, but difficult agreements can be struck with friends and allies, if you aren't more interested in clinching a quick deal to go with agreements struck with India and Donald Trump.
Turning Britain into EU rule-taker
Sir Keir has got a defence pact, which is symbolic in terms of Russia and Ukraine, and could one day help boost defence spending.
A Swiss-style veterinary deal will bring an estimated boost of 0.1 per cent in GDP by facilitating trade in agrifood by the UK aligning with EU laws on plant and animal health.
He also has the promise of more negotiations over closer relations with the EU.
In return, he will turn Britain into an EU rule-taker, make it easier for young Europeans to live and work here, and give away long-term access to British fishing waters.
Sir Keir's goals for these new Brexit negotiations have been achievable, modest and costly in terms of concessions such as alignment that Brussels will bank for future talks.
The number of illegal immigrants on all the main routes into the EU dropped by 27 per cent in the first four months of 2025, reaching nearly 47,000, according to the Frontex border agency.
It said the number of attempted Channel crossings rose by 5 per cent year-on-year, reaching 18,100, it said.
Sir Keir spent last the week cosplaying as a hard man on immigration but has done nothing to get a returns deal that should be Britain's main ask from the EU.
His conversion from Rwanda plan foe to promising offshore detention camps for failed asylum seekers is a transparent effort to head off the threat of a poll-topping Nigel Farage. The Reform leader is fresh from his unprecedented victory in the local elections that has Labour worried and many people now viewing his Brexit-backing party as the real opposition rather than the Tories.
That's why Sir Keir talks about pipe dreams of setting up camps in the western Balkans when he can't even get a migrant back across the Channel.
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