UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged to crack down on “vexatious, last-minute claims” by asylum seekers after the government’s flagship returns deal with France was stalled by a high court ruling. The announcement comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faces growing pressure over immigration and small boat crossings in the English Channel.
Mahmood said the Home Office will review modern slavery legislation after a 25-year-old Eritrean man avoided removal to Paris by claiming he was trafficked. A judge granted a temporary injunction, giving him extra time to submit evidence of his claim.
The home secretary warned that migrants declaring themselves victims of modern slavery just before deportation “make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.” She added that she would “fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims” and “robustly defend the British public’s priorities in any court.”
High Court Ruling Stalls Flights
The court heard that the Eritrean man and his mother had been trafficked through Libya before arriving in Britain by small boat in August. The ruling forced the government to cancel planned flights to France this week under the UK-France returns agreement signed in July.
The deal, agreed by Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, would see asylum seekers crossing from France detained in the UK and returned, in exchange for Britain taking in a similar number of claimants with family ties in the UK. So far, no deportation flights have taken place, with officials conceding reciprocal flights from France are also uncertain.
Political Pressure Mounts on Starmer
The government has come under attack from opposition parties and campaigners after repeated delays. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Mahmood of “panic” and said the deal had “collapsed.” He argued Labour must push for deeper reform of human rights laws to prevent legal challenges.
Legal experts meanwhile criticised the government’s “arbitrary and chaotic” approach to selecting asylum seekers for removal, with some cases reportedly involving children. Imogen Townley of Wilsons Solicitors said the pilot scheme lacked proper screening or safeguards for vulnerable people.
Campaigners Demand End to Returns Deal
Migrant rights organisations have called for the scheme to be scrapped altogether. Lochlinn Parker, acting director of Detention Action, said: “The system designed to get people legal advice has predictably failed. The only way to end this chaos and the harm it is causing people is for the government to end this deal urgently.”
Despite legal setbacks, sources in the Home Office said flights could still go ahead in the coming days, but uncertainty remains over whether the reciprocal arrangement with France will hold.
