Labour would work with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party to tackle small boats crisis, Starmer says
1 July 2024, 16:05 | Updated: 1 July 2024, 19:20
Keir Starmer has said that Labour would work with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party to resolve the small boats crisis if it forms the next French government.
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Speaking in Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire on Monday, the Labour leader said his party was prepared to “work with whoever” to find a solution to the crisis.
He said: “I will work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country.
“For me, that’s what serious government is about. So yes, we will work with whoever.
“I do think it is important that we make the progressive case to meet the challenges that we face across Europe and across the world.”
Sir Keir said that a victory for Ms Le Pen’s party would not damage Labour’s goal of negotiating a “better deal” with the European Union, instead suggesting that the rise of nationalist parties meant they had to show that progressives have the answers to the concerns of disaffected voters.
Pressed on Ms Le Pen’s preference for bilateral deals instead of EU-wide ones, Sir Keir said he believes both are vital to addressing the small boat crisis and are not “mutually exclusive”.
He continued: “Some of the agreements we've got with France are bilateral in any event. I think they need to be stronger and better and deeper, particularly in relation to smashing the gangs that are running the vile trade of putting people into boats.
"But there are also EU measures. The security agreement we want with the EU when it comes to dealing with smuggling gangs is really important."
On Sunday evening protests broke out across France after Marine Le Pen’s party secured the biggest vote share in the first round of voting in the parliamentary elections.
The leader of the far-right National Rally said it had “almost wiped out” President Emmanuel Macron after he called a snap election last month.
President Macron called a surprise vote last month when his centrist alliance was beaten in the European elections by France’s National Rally party.
Sunday night's results put the RN on 33.2% of the vote, nearly double the party managed in the 2022 elections. The left-wing alliance came in second on 28.1%, while Macron dropped to a meagre third with 21% of the vote.
Protests erupted across France after the results, including in Paris, where shop windows were smashed and fires lit across the city - just 25 days before it hosts the Olympics.
Barricades set up by police to control the large protesting crowds were set on fire as flares were set alight.
If the RN win an absolutely majority in the second round of voting it means France would end up with a government and president from different political camps the fourth time in post-war history.
The parliamentary election will reveal who is prime minister, but not president, as Mr Macron has already said he is committed to staying in his role until the end of 2027.
Polls showed that support for Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) had increased in recent days.
A poll undertaken for Les Echoes newspaper indicated that the RN was due to win 37 per cent of the national vote, which is an increase of two points from more than a week ago.
Another poll from BFM TV estimated that the far-right party might win between 260 and 295 seats, which could give it an outright majority within France's 577 constituencies.
