LABOUR was last night accused of signing up to a “migrant merry-go-round” with France.

Ministers are expected to reach a “one in, one-out” returns deal with the French in a bid to deter small boats.

The agreement would see France take back Channel crossers in return for the UK accepting a legitimate asylum seeker with family already here.

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to turn the tide on a record year of small boats after promising to “smash the gangs” in the election.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and her French counterpart Bruno Retailleau believe the returns plan would break the business model of the criminals.

A government source said: “It’ll start as a pilot but it’s to prove the point that if you pay for your passage on a boat then you could quite quickly find yourself back in France.”

But Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the proposals a “gimmick”.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais, and in return we get a migrant merry-go-round where the same number still come here.

“The French are failing to stop the boats at sea, failing to return them like the Belgians do, and now instead of demanding real enforcement, Labour are trying a ‘one in, one out’ gimmick.”