Channel migrants could be sent back to France if the UK agrees to take legitimate asylum seekers.

The UK and France are discussing a “one-for-one” agreement that will allow asylum seekers to join their family members already in the UK.

In return, illegal migrants who have successfully crossed the Channel will be taken back to France. London and Paris are working on a “pilot scheme” that could later be expanded into a wider European deal.

But critics warned it is unlikely to result in fewer migrants coming to the UK, while some fear the EU may try to force Labour to take in more people through safe and legal routes.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express: “The only way to deter crossings is if all those crossing get sent somewhere else - not just a “small number”. This proposal therefore won’t work.

“There was a plan to introduce a comprehensive removals deterrent- Rwanda - but Labour cancelled it before it even started.

“⁠This new deal, if it happens, wouldn’t see numbers coming into the UK reduce, as for each of the “small number” of migrants sent back to France we would get another one arriving.

“This year has been the worst year on record for illegal immigrants crossing the channel. Labour has lost control of our borders, and their claims at last years election to “smash the gangs” lie in tatters.”

Former Border Force Director General Tony Smith added: “The devil will be in the detail. This has been tried before and failed. I expect the EU will want us to take a lot more through safe and legal routes before they take anyone back. That’s always been their line in the past.”

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: "Instead of negotiating trade-style agreements concerning migrants, the focus should be on securing and closing our borders. Such a strategy would be more effective, less costly, and far simpler."

He added: "The priority must be reducing the number of illegal migrants in our country, not simply replacing them."

A Labour source hit back: “The rank hypocrisy of Tories and former Fories queuing up to criticise a Labour government for making progress on returns where they failed is embarrassing. We are working with our allies on a range of solutions, from law enforcement cooperation through to upstream interventions and increasing opportunities remove people with no right to be in the UK.

"In contrast, the Tories wasted £700million on their Rwanda scheme, which only managed to remove 4 volunteers.”

The UK is seeking a migration agreement with the EU that would allow Labour to strike up bilateral deals with countries.

Officials will discuss the proposal for a UK-EU “readmissions framework” at a summit in May, it is understood.

Home Office sources told the Daily Express the first “hurdle” is to test whether a returns deal – either bilateral or even multilateral – is possible “at any scale”.

But this newspaper understands the Government is privately delighted Paris has even begun to discuss a returns deal – after years of refusing to do so.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is said to have a very good relationship with her French counterpart, Bruno Retailleau.

“We are in early discussions about a scheme that would see a small number of migrants returned to France in exchange for us accepting others, in line with what we have discussed ... about prioritising family reunion,” a Home Office source told the Financial Times.

France’s interior ministry confirmed the country was in negotiations with the UK about an agreement to take back some illegal migrants who had crossed the Channel.

It said: “France’s interest is to discourage migrants (and smuggling networks) from attempting to reach the UK from France.

“It’s a pilot scheme that anticipates a future European agreement, which France strongly supports. It is based on a one-for-one principle: for each legal admission under family reunification, there would be a corresponding readmission of undocumented migrants who managed to cross [the Channel].”

Transport minister Lilian Greenwood said on Wednesday that “there are discussions ongoing with the French government” but did not say what a future deal could look like.

Pressed on the returns agreement, Ms Greenwood said: "I can confirm that there are discussions ongoing with the French government about how we stop this appalling and dangerous trade in people that's happening across the English Channel."

She later said that “where people don’t have a right to be here, they need to be returned”.

Speaking to GB News, Ms Greenwood claimed the previous Conservative government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda “delivered absolutely nothing but just cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds”.

Asked about there being “no deterrent”, she told the broadcaster: “We’ve come in, we’ve taken swift action in setting up the Border Security Command.

“We know that there are organised criminal gangs exploiting people who are absolutely desperate, and we are committed to smashing those gangs."

Around 9,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, up 42% on last year. French interior minister Bruno Retailleau admitted returning asylum seekers to France would “send a clear message” that could act as a deterrent to those considering risking their lives.

It marks a significant positional shift in Paris, which has previously refused to consider a bilateral migrant deal. French president Emmanuel Macron has insisted Britain must strike a returns deal with the EU – something the Government has so far refused to do.

Mr Retailleau said: “I do think that there must be an agreement that we can come to, a bilateral agreement between governments.

“Because we see many of those who land on British soil don’t come back. Even when one has crossed the Channel, if one is sent back that will send a clear message.”

French police could start intercepting Channel migrant boats at the end of May, Home Office insiders believe. Sources believe this will begin when a new specialist policing unit trained in tackling public disorder starts patrolling the coastline.

Mr Retailleau added: “We have to deal with the crossings. Up until now, we considered it to be a French doctrine that we would save people on the seas – but that we would take no risk whatsoever.

“So we would accompany the people on the boats. I’ve seen a number of videos where the taxi boats come close to the coast to pick up the migrants in water that’s not very deep, and I think that our gendarmes cannot intervene. We need to change that doctrine of intervention.”

A UK Home Office spokesperson said: “We are intensifying our collaboration with France and other European countries who face the same challenges by exploring fresh and innovative measures to dismantle the business models of the criminal smuggling gangs.”