Starmer to push for new migrant return deal with EU, as he seeks to 'renew UK's relationship with Europe' at summit

17 July 2024, 23:16

Keir Starmer is expected to push for a new migrants return deal with the EU at a summit to be held in the UK on Thursday.

The Prime Minister is set to have talks with French president Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit about returning some migrants who make the English Channel crossing in small boats.

This would be in exchange for accepting some child asylum seekers who have family in the UK from the EU. The UK would not be joining the EU asylum quota scheme as part of this deal.

Ahead of the summit, which is being held at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, the PM called for action across Europe to tackle the international "people-smuggling webs".

Over 380,000 people are believed to have entered the EU through irregular routes in 2023 - an increase of 17% on the previous year.

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Around 41% of those arrivals are believed to have come in small boats across the Central Mediterranean, 26% on land through the Balkans, and 16% coming across the Eastern Mediterranean.

The British government is also bolstering its own efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.

Over 100 staff members at the Home Office, who had been working on the Rwanda scheme that Labour have scrapped, will now work on a "rapid returns unit" to send people with no right to be in the UK back to their home country.

The government will accelerate asylum decisions as part of its response to the small boats crisis.

Officials will prioritise people with no right to be in the UK, and those who are most likely to be returned, in a new, fast-tracked asylum enforcement system.

Under the government's plans to respond to the small boats crisis, asylum decisions will be accelerated and, under a new fast-tracked system in the returns and enforcement unit, officials will prioritise those with no right to be in the UK and who have the greatest chance of being returned.

The Prime Minister said: "We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future.

"That is why European security will be at the forefront of this Government's foreign and defence priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe.

"The EPC will fire the starting gun on this Government's new approach to Europe, one that will not just benefit us now, but for generations to come, from dismantling the people-smuggling webs trafficking people across Europe, to standing up to Putin's barbaric actions in Ukraine and destabilising activity across Europe. "

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He added: "We will only be able to secure our borders, drive economic growth and defend our democracies if we work together."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper added that a new Border Security Command would work "across Europe and beyond", using counter-terror powers to fight organised immigration crime.

"Dangerous small boat crossings are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk," she said.

"Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small boat crossings and the Tories left us with gimmick rather than grip.

"We will work right across Europe to tackle this problem at source, going after those profiting from this awful trade and bringing them to justice."

Leaders from the 47-member EPC will gather at Winston Churchill's birthplace, as Sir Keir attempts to reset the UK's relationship with its European neighbours after the turmoil of Brexit.

As well as the migrants issue, the government is seeking a security pact with the EU and Sir Keir is also determined to cement European nations' support for Ukraine in its war with Vladimir Putin's Russia.

At the summit, the leaders will attend a reception hosted by the King in the palace's Long Library, which has walls lined by more than 10,000 books,

Sir Keir will have a series of face-to-face talks with key figures including Polish counterpart Donald Tusk - who was president of the European Council at the height of the Brexit drama - as he attempts to strengthen ties with the continent.

The EPC was the brainchild of France's Emmanuel Macron and involves 20 non-EU nations including the UK as well as the 27-strong EU bloc.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister for European relations at the heart of the Government's reset plan, will also be at the gathering.