Keir Starmer vows to tackle migrant crisis 'at source' as he announces £84 million in aid for Africa and Middle East
18 July 2024, 17:43 | Updated: 18 July 2024, 18:37
Keir Starmer has announced up to £84 million in funding for humanitarian causes as he vowed to tackle the migrant crisis at source.
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Closing the fourth European Political Community summit on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister said that it was vital to work closer with other countries on the continent to solve the crisis.
It comes after a migrant died in the Channel on Thursday, with the boat returned to France by the Border Force, in a first. Starmer said that the Conservatives were guilty of a "dereliction of duty" in their handling of the migrant crisis.
The PM told reporters in a press conference that work with European partners must be accompanied by efforts further afield, to prevent the "huge problems" abroad from having a knock-on effect at home.
Starmer said: "To stop illegal migration, we must also tackle it at source so today I’m announcing £84 million of new funding for projects across Africa and the Middle East."
Officials said that the funding would be "up to £84 million" from the existing foreign aid budget and that it would be spent over three years. The cash will go on projects "to improve education and employment opportunities" as well as schemes to build resilience to wars and climate change.
Starmed added that the money would be "a vital part of gripping the migration crisis, and it shows how we are going to do business on the world stage."
"We are facing up to the huge problems beyond our shores because these problems echo at home, the effects play out on our streets and in a dangerous world, we serve no one and solve nothing by turning inward."
Starmer welcomed around 50 leaders to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire for the summit on Thursday.
That included Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.
The Prime Minister also announced new initiatives with Slovenia and Slovakia to tackle serious organised crime in their countries.
He said in his closing speech that it wasn't "just a good idea to work with our partners", but that it was "essential."
"I said on the steps of Downing Street I would govern for the whole country, including those who didn’t vote for us, and I meant it.
"We can only make progress on the issues that so many people care about, like illegal migration and national security, if we have the maturity and leadership to reach out a hand to our European friends."
Starmer also addressed the war in Ukraine, telling reporters that its armed forces were "fighting not just for the Ukrainian people – though, of course, it is – but for the European people.
He added: For freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and our security, therefore, starts in Ukraine.
"So we pledge to President Zelenskyy once again that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
He said that his government had been "left in a really difficult position, yet again" by the Conservatives, criticising the Rwanda plan.
"Because border control is about our national security, and rather than address it with a serious answer, they addressed it with gimmicks that didn’t work, and we’re left with a very serious situation to try and turn around."
Starmer was speaking after a person died while trying to make the perilous Channel crossing on Thursday. The boat was returned to a French port, rather than being taken to British shores.
The Prime Minister said there was no change of policy, adding that that this was "an operational decision for those carrying out the exercise.
"I think it is done on a sort of operation-by-operation basis," he added.
Delivering his opening remarks at the summit, Sir Keir said “the threat from Russia reaches right across Europe” and called for a “reset” in UK-EU relations.
In his speech, the Prime Minister also pledged to never leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as the previous Conservative government considered.
Read More: Starmer not seeking migrant returns deal with European nations, Foreign Secretary tells LBC
“It is of course the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and we stand for the values that he embodies around the world: liberty and democracy, yes of course, but also defiance and resolve in their defence.
“Today, as a new storm gathers over our continent, we choose to meet it in that same spirit and we choose to meet it together.
“That is the choice of the government that I lead now…we want to work with all of you to reset relationships, rediscover our common interest, and renew the bonds of trust and friendship.”
The Prime Minister said the need for a reset is “urgent” after “many have seen attacks on our own democracy”, including “military planes entering our airspace and ships patrolling our coast”.
The PM continued: “For peace and security, for prosperity and all our people - we have shown in the G7, where we use Russia assets to ensure they pay for the damage caused and to reduce our collective dependence on Russian gas.”
He went on to say that “he must see the job through and use this moment to accelerate towards clean energy... and tackle ships that are helping Russia evade sanctions”.
He also said that European leaders must tackle "the vile trade of people smuggling".
“Let’s be frank, challenge is the wrong word, it is a now a crisis.
“As we speak, as we gather here, a criminal empire is at work in every country represented here today, profiting off human misery and desperation.
“[They are] prepared to send infants, babies, pregnant mothers, innocent people to their deaths.
“Last week, four more souls, and last night another one, were lost in the waters of the English Channel - a chilling reminder of the human cost of this vile trade.”
Sir Keir's opening address was followed by President Zelenskyy, who called on help from European leaders to defeat Russia.
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Zelenskyy said: “There must be a collective will to shoot them down just like the Iranian missiles and drones.”
“Your bravery can be decisive," he told European leaders in the room, before adding: “People should feel Europe is becoming closer.”
“Putin has not divided us,” he added.
President Macron and Sir Keir are expected to hold a bilateral meeting later this afternoon, with a primary focus on tackling the small boats crisis.
Macron told reporters: “I will have the opportunity at the end of the day to have a bilateral session with the Prime Minister. I am very happy and this is a great opportunity for a reset.
“It is obviously always a very delicate humanitarian situation so our willingness is constantly to improve the situation.”
Asked again if a new deal could be done, Mr Macron said: “This is my point. There is no silver bullet because we do know the situation. We do our best. We did improve the situation during the past few years…”
In pictures: Starmer welcomes European leaders
Macron and Starmer will hold a bilateral meeting later today, with a focus on tackling the small boats crisis.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pictured below, recently hosted his last NATO summit.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban is one of Vladimir Putin's only allies in Europe.
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Sir Keir watched the Euro 2024 final together on Sunday.
Talking about the football? Starmer and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez meet once again after Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final.
