Britain is the weak man of Europe on border control

The Spectator ^ | June 23, 2026 | Gavin Mortimer

[MinorityRepublican]

Britain and France have rewritten the ‘one in, one out’ migrant deal nearly a year after it came into effect. The treaty, described as ‘groundbreaking’ by both countries last summer, has struggled to stem the numbers of migrants heading from France to England in small boats.

It soon became apparent that the deal contained a loophole that enabled a handful of deported migrants to return to Britain in the back of a lorry. The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has agreed with her French counterpart, Laurent Nuñez, to close this loophole by tweaking the treaty to stipulate that its terms apply to any returning migrant regardless of whether they enter a second time by boat or by vehicle.

Frankly, though, with Keir Starmer’s resignation yesterday, the redraft is irrelevant and its promulgation is a sign of how desperate the British government has become. According to the latest government figures, 1,602 migrants have crossed the Channel in 23 small boats in the last week alone, bringing the total for this year so far to more than 10,000. The figure will likely soar in the coming weeks as England and France bask in a heatwave that makes for ideal seafaring weather. Last Monday, 710 migrants arrived in England in a fleet of eleven boats. That is 221 migrants fewer than the total number removed by Britain since the ‘one in, one out’ deal was passed into law. In exchange, Britain has received 896 asylum seekers from France.

It may not be just the weather which is responsible for the sudden surge in small boat crossings. The numbers began increasing on 15 June, three days after the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact became fully operational. Britain is now the weak man of Europe when it comes to border control.

---

TOPICS: United Kingdom
KEYWORDS:

[gibsonguy]

England is so cooked.

[lee martell]

30 years ago, the article would have used the phrase
“Weak Sister” instead of Weak Man.
Now, nobody needs the hassle of being down-arrowed by the disgruntled.