Yvette Cooper refuses to say if she agrees with Macron’s Brexit criticism
Yvette Cooper won’t say how many migrants will be returned to France under new deal
- Home Secretary Yvette Cooper refused to say whether she agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron's assertion that Brexit has complicated efforts to combat illegal immigration.
- Macron said that Brexit “sold a lie” to Britons regarding immigration, arguing that the absence of a returns agreement with the EU incentivises Channel crossings.
- Cooper countered that criminal smuggler gangs exploit any situation, including Brexit, to profit, adapting their tactics before and after the UK's departure from the EU.
- A new 'one-in-one-out' returns agreement was unveiled, allowing one asylum seeker to enter the UK legally from France for each small boat migrant returned to France.
- During an interview with Times Radio, Cooper declined to say how many migrants would be returned under the new scheme.