Yvette Cooper<\/a> has refused to say whether she agreed with Emmanuel Macron<\/a>\u2019s claim that Brexit had made tackling illegal immigration harder<\/a>.<\/p>\n It comes after the French president said voters were \u201csold a lie\u201d on Brexit when they were told it would \u201cmake it possible to fight more effectively against illegal immigration<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Unveiling a new one-in-one-out returns agreement with the UK<\/a>, the French president said that because Brexit left the UK without a returns agreement with the EU: \u201cit creates an incentive to make the crossing, the precise opposite of what Brexit had promised\u201d.<\/p>\n Asked whether Mr Macron had a point about Brexit, the home secretary told Sky News: \u201cI think what I\u2019ve seen happen is that the way that the criminal smuggler gangs operate is that they will weaponise anything that is happening.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so what we saw in the run-up to Brexit being implemented was we saw criminal gangs promising people that they had to cross quickly, and they had to pay money to the smuggler gangs quickly in order to be able to cross in time before Brexit happened.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n The Home Secretary refused to say whether Macron was right about Brexit (PA Wire)<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as Brexit happened, they then said \u2018Oh, well, now you\u2019ve got to pay us money, because this means you can\u2019t be returned because the Dublin Agreement isn\u2019t in place\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the thing about the criminal smuggler gangs is whatever arrangements are in place, they will use them in order to make money, but that\u2019s why we have to be fundamentally undermining their model.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Cooper also declined to say how many migrants would be returned under new arrangements with France, telling Times Radio the figures had not been \u201cfixed\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe numbers are not fixed, even for this pilot phase that we are starting now.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this will be a programme that we roll out step-by-step, and we will provide updates as we go. But we are going to do this in a steady way.\u201d<\/p>\n Giving a press conference alongside Mr Macron at the Northwood military base in West London, Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> said the deal to send small boats migrants back to France for the first time was a \u201cbreakthrough moment\u201d which would \u201cturn the tables\u201d on people smugglers.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Sir Keir Starmer agreed a deal with French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday to send some small boat migrants back to France (POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The pair hope the deal will have a deterrent effect beyond the limited numbers involved in the pilot scheme.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/74dabaf7ebcb406946e6d78d17e36237Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzUxODY5MDMx-2.80068802.jpg\")
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