Sajid Javidis in talks with his French counterpart to send migrants crossing the Channel by boat back to France rather than allowing them to seek asylum in Britain.

The Home Secretary is expected to discuss the proposal with the French interior minister Christophe Castaner at a meeting pencilled in for next week.

Border Force officials aim to exploit a clause in the Dublin agreement that allows the UK to send migrants back if it can be shown they have previously been in an EU state for more than three months.

The move is seen as a deterrent to migrants from making the crossing if they know they will be returned to France and comes after Mr Javid questioned whether the migrants were genuine asylum seekers rather than economic migrants.

It represents a further nod by Mr Javid, a potential Tory leadership contender, to backbench Tory demands after he caved in earlier this week by ordering two Border Force cutters back from a humanitarian refugee mission in the Mediterranean. They will join one other cutter in the Channel.