Keir Starmer lays out plans to deal with the small boats disaster

Sir Keir Starmer said he will look at processing migrants before they arrive in the UK in an effort to tackle the small boats crisis.

The Prime Minister said at a European summit in Blenheim Palace that he was open to the idea as ‘a practical’ and ‘pragmatic’ leader, adding: ‘Where cases can be processed closer to origin, then that is something that of course ought to be looked at.’

But he risked being branded a hypocrite for declaring interest in the Rwanda-style solution, having scrapped the Tories‘ deportation pact with the African nation two weeks ago.

Sir Keir also confirmed he wanted a returns agreement with the European Union which would allow him to send migrants back.

However, the bloc is likely to ask that he accept a share of EU-wide arrivals in return.

The Prime Minister said: ‘The returns agreement only comes in to being at the end of the process, and my focus is at the beginning of the process to make sure we actually secure our borders.’

More than 40 European leaders arrived at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, including French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who shared a laugh with King Charles at a reception hosted by the monarch.

The PM’s interest in offshore processing came following meetings with the premiers of Italy and Albania on the margins of this week’s European Political Community Summit.

The two countries have a deal which allows Italy to send migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Albania for processing.

Last year’s agreement, which was likened to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan, was the first of its kind struck between an EU country and non-EU state.

Asked if he spoke to his Italian and Albanian counterparts about potentially striking a similar deal, the PM said: ‘I’ve always said I’ll look at what works. The focus today has predominantly been about the work we need to do on taking down the [smuggling] gangs.’

He added: ‘In relation to the agreement between Albania and Italy, obviously there’s interest in how that might work. But that wasn’t actually a central discussion in the taskforce.

‘But look, I’m a practical person, I’m a pragmatist and I’ve always said we’ll look at what works.’ 

Sir Keir also held talks with Mr Macron at the summit, fuelling speculation he may ask him for an Italy-Albania-style deal. 

His comments came as it emerged that the UK Border Force had taken migrants rescued from the Channel back to France for the first time on Wednesday, in a sign of new Anglo-French co-operation over the small boats crisis.

A team assisted in the rescue of more than 70 migrants deep in French waters after their boat deflated near Calais.

At the request of the French authorities, they returned the 13 people picked up to the port city.

The PM also announced the Government will send £84million from the existing aid budget to nations in the Middle East and Africa in a bid to stop migrants leaving their home countries in the first place.

This is made up of:

• £13million for ‘migration for development’ programmes in North and East Africa.
• £21million in multilateral support for key host and transit countries, including Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Chad.
• £26million for programmes across the Middle East to support Syrian refugees.
• £24million in direct funding to support communities in Sudan, Chad, and Ethiopia. 

However given that the UK spent more than £12.8billion on aid in 2022, critics are likely to point out that the sum is just a drop in the ocean.

In a post-summit press conference, Sir Keir also spoke of the possibility of a closer relationship with the EU.

His aim ahead of the summit was to begin ‘resetting’ the UK’s relationship with bloc leaders following the fraught Brexit years.

Sir Keir claimed that ‘Britain is back on the world stage’, with countries already indicating they will co-operate with his new government.

He said: ‘The appetite is for a UK which is back on the international scene playing a leading part with maturity and with a different stance in relation to our relations with Europe.

‘I do think there’s a closer relationship to be had that includes trade, includes education and research, and includes security.

‘My strong impression is that we’ve been able to make some real progress today.’

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, said: ‘We are going to reset UK-EU relations.’

And Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, gushed: ‘Britain is back in Europe!’

The summit was dominated by migration as well as bolstering support for Ukraine, where Mr Zelensky pleaded with the 45 European leaders to continue backing his country with military aid.

But the gathering was somewhat overshadowed by a row over Brexit after Nick Thomas-Symonds, the new European relations minister, accused successive Conservative governments of damaging Britain’s international reputation with its handling of the UK’s exit.

He said they had tarnished it by ‘turning inwards, when actually Britain should always be turning outwards to the world.’