Macron and Starmer agree ‘new deterrent’ needed to stop small boats: Live

“We only wanted to blow the bloody doors off,” one MP said, recalling the words of Michael Caine’s character in the film The Italian Job. Rebels wonder whether they instead have brought Labour’s house down.

Inside the government, the blame game goes on. I’m told people are viewing each other suspiciously. Relations between Downing Street and government whips remain fraught. Some cabinet ministers complain that Alan Campbell, the chief whip, has been unfairly cast as the fall guy even though he warned No 10 about the scale of the revolt weeks earlier.

Emmanuel Macron credited the King with helping secure a deal that will see the Bayeux Tapestry loaned to the British Museum.

Speaking at the museum on Wednesday, the French president said: “During decades, I have to say, I have to confess, we did our best not to be put in this situation to make this loan of the Bayeux Tapestry, and we found the best experts in the world to explain in perfect detail why it was totally impossible to make such a loan.

“And believe me, we found them. And believe me, we could have found them again.

“But we just decided a few years ago, and I have to pay tribute to your King, because it was a discussion together and I saw his attachment, his willingness to this project, and I am very happy to make it with you, Mr Prime Minister, dear Keir.”

He also paid tribute to culture secretary Lisa Nandy, French culture minister Rachida Dati, and the British Museum for helping to “unlock everything”.

Britain and France are set to announce a one-in one-out migrants deal, according to reports.

From next month, the UK will return up to 50 small boat migrants to France each week in a deal that is expected to be unveiled at a summit on Thursday, The Times reported.

Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron are set to announce a limited trial starting in late August, before the scheme is scaled up once “proof of concept” has been shown, with as many as 1,500 migrants then to be sent back by the end of the year, sources told the newspaper.

Britain is reportedly expected to agree to accept an asylum seeker with UK family connections in exchange for every small boat migrant sent back to France.

State visits are ceremonial meetings between heads of state that are used to honor friendly nations and sometimes smooth relations between rivals.

While the king formally issues the invitation for a state visit, he does so on the advice of the elected government.

State visits to Britain are particularly prized by heads of state because they come with a full complement of royal pomp and circumstance, including military reviews, carriage rides and a glittering state banquet hosted by the monarch.

The events normally take place in and around Buckingham Palace in central London.

But the Macrons will stay at Windsor Castle, to the west of the capital. Buckingham Palace is undergoing extensive remodeling.

Emmanuel Macron said there were no “tariffs” on cultural exchange as he hailed a deal that will see the Bayeux Tapestry come to the British Museum.

He said: “Mr Prime Minister, you expressed how important are our links and our future projects for our two countries – for Europe, in these hectic times, for the rest of the world – and I strongly believe that culture is part of them.

“I strongly believe that as long as we will have people dedicated to life, to create, to share, to defend culture in our countries, to invent new spaces for that and to have, indeed, sculptors, architects, creators, curators, we will be very special for the rest of the world.

“Because there is no equivalent of that, and this type of tools are unbeatable. There is no trade war or tariffs against this type of approach, and there is no new imperialism vis-a-vis this type of approach, because there are no barriers, there are no borders, by definition.”

He added that the exchange of the Bayeux Tapestry and Sutton Hoo artifacts would be “the best symbol of our common work together”.

George Osborne praised Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron for bringing “some sanity and some fraternity back” to the relationship between Britain and France.

The British Museum chairman and former Tory chancellor said: “Mr President and Prime Minister, congratulations to you both on bringing some sanity and fraternity back to the relationship between our two great nations.”

The small boats crisis is a “shared priority that requires shared solutions”, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron agreed as they met on Wednesday, Downing Street said.

Giving a readout of the two leaders’ meeting at No 10, a Downing Street spokesperson said they “shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment”.

The spokesperson added: “The prime minister welcomed the news that EDF would take a 12.5 per cent stake in Sizewell C, leading to lower bills, more jobs and better energy security for the UK.

“The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.

“Finally, they looked ahead to the 37th UK-France Summit taking place tomorrow and agreed to aim for concrete progress on these areas.”