David Cameron denies blaming Brexit for no asylum returns deal with France

David Cameron previously said a cross-Channel returns agreement with France was 'not possible'. Credit: AP

Lord David Cameron has denied suggesting Brexit is to blame for an asylum returns deal with France being off the table.

It comes after the foreign secretary said in an interview for ITV News that a cross-Channel returns agreement was "not possible" because of the situation we're in, because of others and the all the rest of it".

The remarks were widely seen as an admission that he believes the UK’s departure from the EU is the reason why a deal cannot be struck with France.

Lord Cameron has denied this, suggesting that he was referring to the Dublin Regulation - a policy which allowed member states to send asylum seekers to other EU countries - being replaced by a different system.

“No, it’s not that. The situation we’re in is that the Dublin Convention no longer exists whether you’re in the EU or out of the EU," he said.

“The problem is it’s not possible to have that returns deal with France, that’s why we have looked at innovative solutions.”

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent on Tuesday Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA

The Dublin Regulation is being replaced as countries struggle with the scale of migration and are reluctant to accept transfers.

Lord Cameron, who called the Brexit referendum before fronting the Remain campaign, told ITV’s Peston show on Tuesday that he would “love” for the UK to still be able to return migrants to France.

The remarks were seen as at apparent odds with the government line that a deal with a EU country is not possible because the bloc would insist Britain taking a quota of migrants as part of the agreement.

The foreign secretary defended the controversial plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda as “the right one” to the problem of small boat crossings in the Channel.

Rishi Sunak’s Bill to save the stalled asylum scheme has passed Parliament after weeks of wrangling between MPs and peers, but ministers are braced for further legal challenge, with the judiciary making 25 courtrooms available to deal with cases.

Defending the Safety of Rwanda legislation earlier this week, Andrew Mitchell MP said statistics suggest Kigali is “arguably safer than London” and the objections of some peers to the plan “border on racism”.

Asked whether he shared the views of the deputy foreign secretary, who appears on behalf of the Foreign Office in the Commons chamber, Lord Cameron said: “We always speak with one voice.”

Asked whether he believes Kigali is safer than London, Lord Cameron said: “I’m always driven by the data.”

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