The first flight to France under the government’s ‘one in, one out’ deal has taken off without any migrants on board, according to reports.
Seats are believed to have been booked on board Air France passenger planes this week to begin carrying out the scheme, which the Home Office hopes will drive down numbers arriving in the UK on small boats.
But the Times and Telegraph reported that a flight on Monday did not go ahead as planned due to legal challenges.
Home Office minister Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio this morning: ‘I’m not going to comment or give a running commentary on what is happening here.’
However, she added: ‘These deportations will be happening as soon as possible.’
The government is reluctant to reveal the numbers involved in the plan, fearing such details could be used by smuggling gangs to convince people it’s worth the risk.
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A certain amount of ambiguity is crucial to the deterrent effect, to make would-be migrants unsure of whether they will be sent immediately back.
Davies-Jones said: ‘If I was to break down with you exactly a time-by-time, day-by-day movement on our returns policy, then that would be giving these abhorrent people smugglers exactly what they want.
‘This would be allowing them to know what the government is doing when, and they would be able to respond to that. We are not going to be doing them any favours.’
Under the scheme, a certain number of people who have arrived in the UK illegally would be exchanged with the same number via a ‘controlled and legal’ route.
The initial group of migrants were detained under the deal more than five weeks ago.
It is thought that the first of them could be removed as early as today, unless further legal challenges are filed.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Under the new UK-France Treaty, people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed to France. We expect the first returns to take place imminently.
‘Protecting the UK border is our top priority. We will do whatever it takes to restore order to secure our borders.’
More than 31,000 people have arrived on small boats over the English Channel since the beginning of 2025, a record high compared to the same point in previous years.
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘This Labour government is too weak to control our borders.
‘Their 16 in, one out deal would see 94% of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel allowed to stay, and Labour are so weak and incompetent they can’t even make that happen.
‘Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to deport all illegal arrivals, tackle the lawfare blocking immigration policy, and put a real deterrent in place through our Deportation Bill.’
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