Who knew the French had such a great sense of humour?
Sadly, British people won’t be laughing after reading this summary of ‘Macron’s Big French Joke’
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025
Starmer’s ‘One in, One out’ deal with Macron: The funniest international treaty a French person will ever read
Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘One In, One Out’ deal with President Macron to deal with the small boats illegal migrants crisis has almost universally been treated with scorn and derision.
What no-one has seen – before now – is a summary of just why this international treaty is called ‘Macron’s big French joke on the Rosbifs’ by the Stand for Our Sovereignty (SOS) organisation. In association with GB News, SOS has worked with Brexit Facts4EU to bring readers the simple facts that make this treaty unworkable.
Speaking to GB News, Stand for Our Sovereignty’s Chairman said:
"“Everyone knew this deal was a dog’s dinner, but now there is a textual analysis and summary, which proves the animal in question is more of a mangy mongrel.
“Having analysed the legal text, we know exactly what to tell the illegal migrants so that not a single one of them is ever eligible to be taken back. Yvette Cooper said she would not reveal the target number of returns for security reasons, in order not to give the people smuggling gangs any advantage. Ridiculous and irrelevant. What she should have done is blacked out Macron’s conditions in the Treaty.
“If we now know how to make it easy to avoid deportation under this agreement, you can be sure the gangs do too, and therefore so will the illegal migrants.”
SUMMARY in layman’s terms of the legal text of
Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘One In, One Out’ Treaty with the French,
signed by Yvette Cooper
To state the obvious, this Treaty will not reduce the UK’s immigration figures by one single migrant. The number (in the millions) who have entered the UK either legally or illegally will not be altered by this agreement.
1. Unrealistic deadlines for the British, lackadaisical for the French
New illegal migrants crossing from France will have to be processed by the UK and all documentation required by the French must be provided to them within 14 days of the migrant landing. (Art 4, 2c) We find it highly improbable that any migrant has ever been processed by the Home Office within 14 days of landing.
France has up to 28 days to respond to any request and if none is received it shall be considered a refusal. (Art 8) If it does agree, the process for each migrant to be deported is expected to take up to three months. (Art 1, 1)
2. Binds the UK to the ECHR and other international treaties
The UK must adhere to international law, “including the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951 and its 1967 Protocol as well as the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings”. (Art 1, 4c)
If the UK leaves or derogates from any parts of the ECHR or other international agreements, it seems it will be game over. In addition, EU law takes precedence over this agreement. (Art 1, 5)
3. Returns
All returns are to be made by air. On landing in France, British officers may not use force to take a reluctant migrant off the plane. (Art 9, 2) If he just sits there, there’s nothing they can do.
In the event of any UK court order being announced after the migrant has been deported, the UK must arrange to take him back.
4. UK taxpayer pays all French costs
All legal costs in either country to be borne by the UK. (Art 10, 4) The UK is responsible for all its own transfer and other costs (including flights) and is also responsible for all French costs. (Art 11 and 15)
In short, the UK taxpayer will pay every French bill the other side can think of, whether any migrants are ever successfully returned or not. The UK taxpayer will also pay for the flights bringing Macron’s ‘exchange migrants’ to the UK.
5. Excludes every type of migrant the French can think of
The agreement does not apply to a migrant who makes any form of protection or human rights claim on arrival in the UK. (Art 4, 1d) This will exclude all illegal migrants from this Treaty, unless the claim is quickly deemed ‘inadmissible’ by the Home Office. (Art 4, 1d) Ironically, only illegal migrants who are ‘inadmissible’ from the British perspective will be admissible for consideration by the French.
The problem for the Home Office : In the whole of Sir Keir’s first 12 months in office, only 57 inadmissibility notices were served. (Source: Stand for Our Sovereignty research of Home Office records.)
Even taking the number the Home Office considered declaring inadmissible (but didn’t), this was a small proportion of the total: 2,216 in the last quarter to June 2025. (Source: Stand for Our Sovereignty research from Home Office records.)
It does not apply to any real undesirables, such as those who may pose a “threat to public order or national security”. (Art 4, 2b)
It does not apply to anyone who entered the UK “more than 14 calendar days prior to the date of the readmission request”. (Art 4, 2c) It therefore does not apply to the 175,000 whom President Macron has already allowed to cross from France and who have already entered the UK.
It does not apply to all migrants where the Home Office cannot process their claim in under 14 days.
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It does not apply to any unaccompanied migrant claiming to be under 18. (Art 4, 2d) These totalled 3,553 in Sir Keir’s first year in office. (Source: Stand for Our Sovereignty research from Home Office records.)
It does not apply except in periods when the UK has taken more migrants from France than vice versa. (Art 4, 2f) If France is slow in sending migrants to the UK, the UK will just have to wait.
It does not apply to a migrant if the UK has not done security checks on him. (Art 4, 3) Also, France can refuse a request if the migrant fails France’s “security checks similar to those carried out when applying for a visa or a residence permit on individuals and if France considers that an individual would be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Schengen States”. (Art 4, 4) This catch-all means that almost any country in the EU has a veto.
About the only condition that does not favour the French is that the UK can refuse migrants from France that it had already sent back under this agreement.
6. Onerous process, with paperwork beloved of the French
The UK’s ‘readmission application’ to France must include “the particulars of unmarried children and/or Partners”, together with biometric data including a photograph and fingerprints, and all ‘proofs’ of all the conditions specified above. (Art 5) The conditions are lengthy and it is certain the French will require every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed.
7. How many? Now there’s a question… (There’s a question, but no answer)
It does not apply if the overall capped number of migrants has been exceeded. (Art 12 1b) So there is no minimum, or rather there is none that Yvette Cooper will admit to. There is, however, a maximum, but apparently that maximum cannot be disclosed either.
8. Suspension and termination
Either party can suspend the agreement with one week’s notice and terminate it with one month’s notice. (Art 20 and 22) France may review or amend the agreement if it does not like “the actions taken by the United Kingdom to tackle illegal working and strengthen law enforcement so as to reduce the pull factors that drive irregular flows towards it.” (Art 20)
The agreement was done on 30 and 31 July and entered into force on 06 August 2025. It was signed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and her opposite number, Bruno Retailleau.
Observations
For seven years France has allowed large numbers of illegal migrants to gather in semi-permanent camps in its northern coastal region. It does not police this problem effectively, which affects many northern French towns and villages. Nor does it properly police the illegal activity including people trafficking, and nor does it control its northern sea border, except to catch British fishing boats who may have crossed the line between UK and French waters.
Under this agreement, because of France’s failure to act, illegal migrants will set off from France, escorted by French coastguard and navy vessels to the line in the English Channel between the two countries. They will then be picked up by the UK’s free ferry service for illegal migrants. After they land in England, France may then consider taking a small number of them back, provided the British authorities jump through many hoops to try to fulfil the conditions set by the French – and must do so within two weeks. In most cases these are illegal migrants who have been in France for months, waiting for their turn.
On top of all of this the UK taxpayer has to pay France even more than the £800m it has already paid, for doing France’s job for it.
The punchline of Macron’s Big French Joke on the British is of course its basic premise. Nothing in this deal will change the number of unwanted migrants in the UK by even one digit. If some exchanges are eventually made, that is all they will be: exchanges. One for one. And all at another huge cost to the UK.
‘Macron’s Big French Joke on the Rosbifs’
We described this as ‘Macron’s Big French Joke’ because we have studied every word of the Treaty. It is as if President Macron sat around a table with his Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and his officials and said with a big grin:
“So, just how ridiculous can we make this thing? I want it to be the most humiliating international treaty any British Prime Minister in history has ever agreed to, okay? No, wait a minute.
“ No, I want it to be the most humiliating international treaty any country’s leader in history has ever agreed to.”
The reasons it won’t work
As a responsible organisation, readers will understand why we will not say what every migrant should really do to ensure he will never be deported under Starmer’s truly terrible Treaty. What we will say is that far from Starmer “smashing the gangs”, this Treaty has given the gangs a smashing time.
Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.
[ Sources: UK and French governements - official text of the deal ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 28 Aug 2025
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