The first flight carrying Channel migrants back to France under Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal has not taken place as planned, according to reports.
A small group of migrants were reportedly removed from a Monday Air France flight due to travel from Heathrow to Paris after a legal challenge.
The passenger flight went ahead without any migrants on board, according to The Times, and is one of several throughout the week on which the Home Office has booked seats for migrants.
A government source said the first deportation flights under the deal with France are expected to take place this week.
Earlier on Monday, skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith refused to say how many people will be returned to France this week under the deal.
The French are reported to have said they will only be accepting a small initial contingent of deportations.
Ministers have previously said the scheme will ramp up the number of deportations over time. But justice minister Alex Davies-Jones on Tuesday refused to say when deportations would actually be carried out under the scheme.
Ms Davies Jones declined to give a “running commentary” on when deportations would occur, claiming this would give people smugglers “exactly what they want”.
She told Times Radio: “I’m not going to comment or give a running commentary on what is happening here.”
Asked when migrants would be returned to France, she said: “These deportations will be happening as soon as possible.”
But she declined to say when, or whether asylum seekers due to arrive from France as part of the scheme would still fly to the UK later this week.
Asked why she would not comment, she said: “If I was to break down with you exactly a time-by-time, day-by-day movement on our returns policy, then that would be giving these abhorrent people smugglers exactly what they want.
“This would be allowing them to know what the Government is doing when, and they would be able to respond to that. We are not going to be doing them any favours.”
The pilot scheme will see the UK send back to France asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to Britain.
Reports suggest formal removal directions have been issued to those who arrived in the UK on small boats last month, telling them they will be deported within five days.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.
It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on the crossings was first reported in 2018.
