Philip Trott discusses legality of the UK France memorandum on small boat arrivals on LBC

12 July 2025

Philip Trott joined LBC radio and Channel 4 News presenter Matt Frei on LBC radio this weekend to discuss the UK Prime Minister and French President’s joint announcement on small boat arrivals in the UK.

According to the British and French leaders’ declaration: “France and the UK have agreed to trial a pilot to deter illegal journeys across Europe to the UK and dangerous small boat crossings while saving lives, as an innovative approach to break the business model of organised gangs. It will provide for the readmission of migrants directly to France after an illegal journey by small boat to the United Kingdom and will also offer a reciprocal legal route to the UK for migrants in France, with a principle of equivalence between the number of readmissions to France and the number of legal admissions to the UK. The agreement will be finalised and signed subject to completing prior legal scrutiny in full transparency and understanding with the Commission and EU Member states as this initiative is related to an EU external border, and implemented within a few weeks, subject to the above processes, with real-time monitoring.”

Standing alongside his French counterpart on Thursday 10 July, PM Keir Starmer said that the pilot that is being described as a “one in, one out” deal would be ready to commence within weeks.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees responded with an ambivalent statement: “while the full details are not yet available, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, understands that under the proposal, a number of people arriving irregularly across the Channel to the UK would be transferred back to France, where they will have the possibility to claim asylum. Voluntary, lawful transfers of an equivalent number of individuals from France to the UK would also be facilitated enabling successful applicants to present an asylum claim in the UK.

“Precise operational details of the scheme have yet to be disclosed, and these will be critical in determining how the agreement is implemented in practice. However, if implemented in line with international law, standards and safeguards, the pilot could offer access to protection to asylum-seekers and refugees on both sides of the Channel, with the UK and France demonstrating a shared responsibility and commitment to supporting people fleeing war, violence and persecution.”

Yet the UN agency also called on nations to “work with the countries where refugees first arrive, and along the routes they travel, to ensure they can find protection and rebuild their lives without taking treacherous onward journeys – and for some, to access protection in the UK, France and elsewhere through safe, legal pathways.”

Though there is not much detail yet on how this scheme may operate, a Home Office press release provided a little more: “Under the new UK-France pilot, any asylum claim submitted by a migrant who has crossed the Channel will be considered for inadmissibility and, if declared inadmissible, the Home Office will organise readmission of the individual to France.

“For those coming to the UK legally, an individual in France will submit an Expression of Interest application to the new route and the Home Office will make a decision once they have undergone biometric checks. Anyone who had arrived by small boat and returned to France will not be eligible for the legal route to the UK. The innovative approach will be tested first before being gradually ramped up.”

Adults can be found to be inadmissible if they have travelled through a safe third country, so depending on how this pilot will operate, that could mean many of the adults that have arrived in the UK irregularly.

LBC’s Matt Frei spoke to our Senior Counsel Philip Trott on his radio show this weekend to analyse how legal and workable the pilot may be. Philip made reference to the Dublin Convention which Britain left during Brexit, which provides a mechanism to return irregular migrants to safe third countries among its provisions for protecting asylum seekers. Philip also mentioned the postwar Refugee Convention, according to which the right to seek asylum here does not depend on how one has arrived.

You can hear a clip below and listen to all of Matt Frei’s show on the LBC app.