Macron turns to politics on second day of UK state visit

French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Britain turned to politics Wednesday as London was expected to press Paris for new measures to curb undocumented immigration.

The ever-rising number of migrants arriving on England’s southern coast by small boat from northern France has become a major political headache for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

He is expected to push the French leader to do more to stop the crossings when the two leaders meet over lunch at the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence.

London hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link, the domestic PA news agency reported.

In parliament Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party — currently riding high in the polls — challenged Starmer to “say to the French president we will not accept undocumented males across the English Channel”.

There has been mounting frustration in the UK over funding for France to prevent migrants setting off and a law that prevents police intercepting migrant boats while in the water close to shore.

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“We will only provide funding that delivers for our priorities,” Starmer told parliament, adding that the UK had persuaded the French “to review their laws and tactics on the north coast to take more effective action”.

“I’ll be discussing this at meetings with President, Macron,” he added.

‘Burden’

After he took power a year ago, Starmer promised to “smash the gangs” getting thousands of migrants onto the small boats, only to see numbers rise to record levels.

More than 21,000 migrants have crossed from northern France to southeast England in rudimentary vessels this year as the far-right soars in popularity.

In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Macron promised to deliver on measures to cut the number of migrants crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries.

He said France and the UK had a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness”.

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The talks at Downing Street come after a first day dominated by pomp and a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family.

Tuesday’s royal welcome from King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla included a horse-drawn carriage procession, a 41-gun salute and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle, west of London, for the president and his wife Brigitte.

‘Entente amicale’

The Macrons began the second day of their visit by paying their respects at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.

Macron then discussed biodiversity issues with the king during a stroll in the castle grounds before he bade farewell to his host and headed to central London.

This is the first state visit by a French president to Britain since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit in 2020.

After Britain’s acrimonious departure from the European Union, the two countries smoothed post-Brexit tensions in 2023 during a state visit by the famously Francophile king and a summit with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in France.

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At the state banquet in Macron’s honour, Charles toasted a new UK-France “entente… no longer just cordiale, but now amicale”, prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance”.

On Wednesday morning, Macron also met entrepreneurs and scientists working on artificial intelligence at Imperial College London.

Later, he will visit the British Museum to formally announce the loan of the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England.

On Wednesday evening Macron will meet with the business community at a dinner held in his honour at the Guildhall, a historic building in the City of London, the capital’s financial district, with 650 guests in attendance.

– By: © Agence France-Presse