Campaigning to tackle the steady stream of crossings in the Channel, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged the UK to sign up to the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, arguing membership would enable returns to the first EU country a migrant entered and strike at the criminal gangs behind the small boats trade.
How the pact would change returns and screening
The pact, which entered into force in June after almost a decade of negotiation, introduces mandatory screening and a revamped database to track arrivals across the bloc. Sir Ed’s pitch is that joining would allow the UK to send some asylum seekers back to the first EU state they went through — a change he says would remove the major pull factor for people smuggling networks.
“We have a plan that would finally end the small boats crisis: a pact with every EU country that will allow us to return people who come over the Channel, taking away the major pull factor that [Reform UK leader Nigel] Farage and co created and destroying the business model of the criminal gangs”
The Liberal Democrats accept that participation would involve the UK taking some asylum seekers from EU countries, but say those individuals would be screened before they entered the country.
Numbers, costs and claimed results
Ministers and parties point to recent shifts in arrivals and enforcement:
- More than 14,000 people have arrived in the UK by small boat so far this year, a 43% fall compared with the previous year.
- A Labour spokesperson said bilateral work with European countries had prevented over 47,000 crossings in two years and led to 70,000 removals of people with no right to be in the UK.
The Liberal Democrats estimate the cost of joining the pact at about £100m a year, which they contrast with the roughly £5bn currently spent on what they call a failing asylum system.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Arrivals by small boat (this year) | 14,000+ |
| Percentage fall (year on year) | 43% |
| Crossings prevented (two years) | 47,000+ |
| Removals | 70,000 |
| Estimated UK cost to join pact | £100m per year |
| Current UK asylum spend (annual) | £5bn |
Practical and political implications
Joining the pact would bind the UK into arrangements that redistribute responsibility among EU states — including mandatory provisions for taking in migrants from member states experiencing the highest arrivals or providing alternative support. That raises immediate questions about whether the political benefits of being able to return people to first-entry states outweigh the obligations to accept some asylum seekers from the EU.
Labour, while pointing to progress, said more work with the EU was needed and that recent joint activity had had a demonstrable effect on crossings and removals. The Liberal Democrats frame their proposal as both a security and a fiscal measure: lowering arrivals at less cost than the current system, they say, while attacking the criminal model that organises crossings.
Any move to join the pact would require detailed negotiations with the EU and parliamentary scrutiny at home. It would also reopen sensitive debates about sovereignty, border control and the legal obligations that come with participating in shared asylum frameworks.
For voters and ministers alike, the argument now is whether the promise of fewer small boat crossings and lower net costs is worth the trade-offs involved in accepting shared responsibility under EU rules.
