NIGEL Farage met with the leader of a French rightwing party to discuss plans to crackdown on immigration if they win elections in the UK and France.
The leader had a lunch with National Rally’s Jordan Bardella in , who vowed to stop small boat crossings.
Jordan Bardella and Nigel Farage met in London to discuss immigration issuesCredit: X
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella in 2022Credit: Getty
Bardella called Farage a “patriot” and believes he will be the next Prime Minister.
He also hopes to run for President in France after ‘s two terms are over.
Speaking to The Telegraph , Bardella said he wants a “total overhaul” of and would push for a “systematic expulsion of foreign offenders and criminals”.
“The right of asylum will be abolished. Asylum applications will be processed outside the country, namely in the embassies and consulates of the countries of departure, and there will be national priority.
“My ambition is to make France the least attractive country for mass immigration in . And from there, if it is no longer possible to cross, then there will be no one left in Calais.”
He also slammed ‘s current ‘one-in one-out’ swap system with Macron as a “smokescreen”.
But he will only run for president if can’t run herself.
In April, Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European parliamentary funds through a fake jobs ruse.
She was banned from running for office for five years – but she is appealing both the verdict and the sentence.
The sentence included a four year jail term along with a €100,000 (£84,000) fine.
It comes after new figures shows just 153 arrivals have been sent back across the Channel since signed the one-in-one-out agreement with the French President.
A total of 141 have been brought into the UK.
Those meagre removals are dwarfed by 13,856 migrants who have landed in Britain on dinghies – leaving the deportation rate at just 1.1 per cent.
Currently, to qualify for the “in” route a migrant must be in with a passport or national identity document.
The Home Office then prioritises people from countries with an asylum grant rate of more than 80 per cent in the UK, including Eritrea, Afghanistan and Sudan.
They also give preference to those who have lived in Britain before or visited in the last five years.
Once the criteria are met, migrants attend an appointment at a visa application centre in with their identity documents.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer outside No 10 Downing StreetCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the ChannelCredit: PA
Around 98 per cent of Eritreans who’ve left the country don’t have a passport because they need to complete military service to obtain one.
But they say their reason for fleeing the country is to specifically avoid joining the .
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We continue to receive and accept more applicants, with stringent security and eligibility checks to ensure the integrity of this new safe and legal route.
“We are scaling up the pilot scheme and returns of those with no right to be here as part of our landmark agreement with France.
“More than 150 small boat migrants have already been removed, with further flights scheduled in the coming weeks. In return, we have taken 141 migrants.”
It comes amid suggestions that illegal migrants could be deported to North Macedonia under a fresh bid to stop channel crossings.
Britain is in talks with the Balkan nation to set up a migrant “return hub”, with the UK prepared to pay Skopje for every person it takes.
As part of the package, Britain would also invest in the country and offer security support to help counter Russian influence.
entered formal discussions with the UK earlier in the Autumn, The Times reported.
It’s one of several nations sounding out the idea of hosting overseas hubs aimed at easing pressure on Britain’s borders.
Under the proposal, migrants removed from the UK would be allowed to claim asylum in North Macedonia.
They wouldn’t be detained or restricted, meaning they could leave the country if they chose.
They’d also be urged to seek asylum or take up work visas in shortage sectors such as construction.
The plan forms a central pillar of Sir Keir Starmer’s new approach to cutting Channel crossings, after he acknowledged to President Macron last month that there was currently “no effective deterrent”.
Kosovo is also in discussions with Britain over a similar hub, though its prime minister says the country has “limited capacity”.
A deal of this kind could give the a way to remove migrants from countries deemed too dangerous to return people to directly, places like Afghanistan and Eritrea, whose nationals make up the largest groups arriving in small boats.
Ministers believe the inability to make these returns has long acted as a magnet for illegal migration.
Sir Keir has branded return hubs a “really important innovation”, rejecting comparisons to the scrapped Tory Rwanda scheme.
Unlike Rwanda, migrants would only be sent abroad after all asylum appeals in the UK were exhausted.
and are among other nations exploring similar hubs, and the UN refugee agency says it would back them if safeguards are upheld.
Migrants wade into the sea to try to board smugglers’ boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern FranceCredit: AFP
Bardella called Farage a ‘patriot’ and believes he will be the next Prime MinisterCredit: Splash
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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