Sir Keir Starmer has revealed that a Labour government would aim to strike a post-Brexit returns agreement with the EU, as he vowed to “smash the gangs” organising small boat crossings.
The Labour leader said was prepared to do a deal which would involve the UK taking a quota of legal asylum seekers who arrive in the bloc, in exchange for the ability to return people crossing the English Channel.
Sir Keir insisted that his focus was on ensuring that an anti-terrorism style crackdown could smash the gangs behind the “vile” trade – preventing people leaving in small boats from France in the first place.
But the Tories seized on the suggestion that he would be prepared to do a deal with Brussels on a migrant quota – accusing him of “surrendering” immigration policy to the EU.
“He wants to surrender control of our immigration to the EU and let them decide on the quotas,” said cabinet minister Steve Barclay. “The number that we would then have to take in return will be much higher.”
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In an interview with The Times, Sir Keir said he would also seek an EU-wide returns agreement for small boat migrants, which may involve a “quid pro quo” of accepting quotas of migrants from the bloc.
“That would be part of any discussions and negotiations with Europe,” he said. But he would not be drawn on the number of legal asylum seekers he would be happy to take in under a deal.
He also insisted that seeking closer co-operation with the EU on the migrants crisis did not mean a weakening of his stance on Brexit. “There is no return to freedom of movement. We have left the EU,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Rishi Sunak claimed Labour’s returns deal plans could result in the UK accepting 100,000 migrants from the EU every year. “His plans today seem to amount to saying that we might one day accept 100,000 EU migrants every year – that doesn’t seem like a credible plan.”
Home secretary Suella Braverman said Labour would let the UK become a “dumping ground” for Europe’s migrants. But Mr Starmer described the Tory response as “nonsense”
“I can only assume it’s because they’ve got nothing sensible to say on the issue,” the Labour leader said – before insisting that he was “taking control of a situation the government has totally lost control of”.
Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper at Europol in The Hague— (PA Wire)
Sir Keir said people-smuggling should be treated “on a par” with terrorism, as he vowed to deepen intelligence ties with the EU as part of a new post-Brexit security pact.
As part of its plans, Labour says it would work to reach a new agreement to share real-time intelligence similar to the Schengen Information System II – a database of terror suspects and immigration offenders which the UK had automatic access to before Brexit.
The party has also vowed to strengthen powers to restrict the movement of people smugglers by making it quicker and easier to obtain civil orders – known as serious crime prevention orders – which are used to target offenders such as terrorists and drug traffickers.
Sir Keir shared his plans for greater cooperation in data sharing between British and European security forces during his meeting with Europol chiefs at the organisations HQ in the Hague on Thursday.
The Labour leader told ITV his main aim was ensuring that people did not make it across the English Channel. “The first stage is: how do you work with police forces across countries to ensure that you stop people getting into the boats in the first place, and smash this vile trade?”
Keir Starmer expected to meet Macron in Paris next week— (PA/Getty)
He added: “And that is about working here in Europol, working across Europe, to ensure that the criminals are brought down, that they are treated in the same way that we treat terrorists. So that’s stage one.”
“The question of whether people can then be returned only applies if people are still getting across the Channel, and what I want to do is to stop this trade, stop this vile business in the first place.”
Funding for the Labour measures would be redirected from the government’s plan to send asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda, currently held up in the courts following a series of legal challenges.
Sir Keir’s meeting with Europol officials on Thursday comes ahead of a trip to Montreal, Canada, for a summit of “progressive” politicians. Reports suggest he is also set to be hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris next week.
He could also be eyeing a meeting in the White House with US president Joe Biden in the coming months, whose “Bidenomics” and landmark green subsidy push has attracted admiration from the opposition.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir refused to commit to the continuation of the pensions triple lock, but insisted there would be a “fair and decent pension” under a Labour government.
The Labour leader said he would not make manifesto commitments at this stage but blamed Rishi Sunak for the uncertainty facing pensioners.
“It was this government that made the commitment in relation to the triple lock. It’s this government that ought to keep the commitment that they’ve made,” he told Times Radio.
The government has insisted it is committed to the triple lock – but officials are considering tweaks to save money by changing the way the link to average earnings works.
