Rishi Sunak's latest small boats blow as EU 'rules out post-Brexit returns deal'

15 August 2023 , 09:52

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Rishi Sunak has reportedly been told the EU won't negotiate a new returns deal (Image: AP)

Rishi Sunak's 'Stop the Boats' pledge has been dealt a fresh blow after EU chiefs reportedly said they won't entertain negotiating a new returns agreement.

The PM has been desperate to reach a new deal after the UK lost its legal right to send failed asylum seekers back to European countries following Brexit. The Government is battling against a record asylum backlog following years of Tory failure to process applications.

A leaked memo suggests Bjoern Siebert, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's head of cabinet, told British officials the bloc will not even consider a post-Brexit returns deal. He is claimed to have said the EU is "not open" to a new readmissions agreement.

It will be unwelcome news for a PM who has just returned to work following his ministers' bungled 'Stop The Small Boats' week.

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More than 100,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since 2018 (AFP via Getty Images)

According to reports in The Times and the Daily Mail, a leaked memo has suggested that such a pact is not being entertained by Brussels. The UK Government said it "remains open" to working towards a UK-EU returns accord.

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Meanwhile The Times suggested any Brussels deal would likely come with the condition that Britain share in Europe's effort to resettle hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers. This will include those arriving by boat to Italy or Greece.

It is claimed that Mrs von der Leyen has rejected Mr Sunak's plea for fresh negotiations on fresh terms. German politician Mr Siebert is said to have told Sir Tim Barrow, the UK's national security adviser and a former ambassador to the EU, that the "commission is not open to a UK-EU readmissions agreement". But the commission is understood to dispute the recording of events.

Mr Sunak is under immense pressure to tackle Channel crossings, especially following a tragedy on the early hours of Saturday which claimed the lives of six asylum seekers. Yesterday 111 people were detected making the dangerous journey, the Home Office has said.

Since Brexit, the UK hasn't been part of the Dublin Agreement - which allows EU member states to return refugees. More than 100,000 people are known to have crossed the Channel since 2018, and earlier this year the asylum backlog stood at an astonishing 130,000.

Rishi Sunak's latest small boats blow as EU 'rules out post-Brexit returns deal'

The Bibby Stockholm barge had to be evacuated on Friday (Max Willcock/BNPS)

A UK Government spokeswoman said: "We remain open to working with the EU to take forward negotiations on a UK-EU returns deal, as part of our international efforts to tackle illegal migration and to crack down on these exploitative gangs. We are in regular conversations with our European counterparts on a range of issues relating to migration and asylum.

"We agreed with members of the Calais Group of Northern European nations to work towards an EU-UK cooperation agreement on migration in a joint statement at the group's December 8 2022 meeting."

While he was away, the PM's bungling top team planned a swathe of announcements to show they are trying to fix the broken asylum system on what they had dubbed “Stop The Boats Week". But it turned into a farce.

More than 16,000 people have made the dangerous journey since the start of the year. It's the cause of much angst within the Tory party, with bigmouth Lee Anderson sparking fury by claiming “f*** off back to France”, before later admitting the Government had “failed” to tackle illegal immigration.

To make matters worse a £400,000 Home Office drone used to monitor boats in the Channel crashed into the sea. And ministers were forced to drop a daft idea to send migrants 4,000 miles away to Ascension Island just hours after it was announced.

Meanwhile the Bibby Stockholm barge had to be evacuated after Legionella bacteria was detected onboard. No10 insists it wants to put people back on there "as soon as possible".