Starmer says he is giving tens of millions to hard-right Italian PM to sort out migration

The UK will hand over £4million to the Italian Government in a bid to tackle small boats crossings, Keir Starmer has announced.

The PM is in Italy for talks with hard-right leader Giorgia Meloni on ways to tackle irregular immigration. The money will be spent on projects in Africa aimed at reducing the number of people making dangerous crossings into Europe.

Mr Starmer said the leaders had made “remarkable progress” and spoke of the “huge affection” between the two nations. But he has sparked a backlash, with one Labour MP hitting out at Ms Meloni’s “extreme far right government”.

The PM repeatedly refused to rule out processing asylum claims overseas after Italy struck a deal to do so with Albania. The UK has agreed to contribute £4million to the Rome Process – the Italian government’s project to tackle the root causes of irregular migration. The two countries will also work closely in sharing intelligence to disrupt people smugglers.

Ms Meloni has overseen a 60% drop in small boat crossings in the past year and Mr Starmer said he is keen to learn how she did it. He is under pressure to tackle dangerous crossings after yet another tragedy in the Channel which claimed eight lives. Over the weekend almost 1,100 people arrived in the UK by small boat.

Mr Starmer told a press conference in the Italian capital: “I have always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived in any of our countries. I was very interested in that.

“In a sense, today was a return – if you like – to British pragmatism. We are pragmatists first and foremost. When we see a challenge we discuss with our friends and allies the different approaches that are being taken, look at what works, and that is the approach we have taken today, and it has been a very productive day.”

But his decision to work closely with Ms Meloni hasn’t been welcomed across his party. Labour backbencher Nadia Whittome posted on Twitter/X: “Meloni’s extreme far right government is no leader on asylum and immigration. Its policies have been repeatedly criticised by human rights organisations. Far from taking lessons from them, we should be building an asylum and immigration system with compassion at its heart.”

Earlier Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK will be watching Italy’s plan to send asylum seekers to Albania while their claims are processed. Under the agreement Italy will send men rescued at sea to Albania while authorities decide whether they will be allowed into Europe.

They would not be permanently relocated there – as would have happened under the Tory Rwanda deal. Ms Cooper said of Italy’s Albania agreement “we’ll need to see what that does”. She went on: “It’s very different from the Rwanda partnership that the UK government had, and we’ll have to see how that plays out.”

The Home Secretary continued: “It’s being done in cooperation between those two countries, and what they’re actually doing is looking at those people who arrive in Italy, who have come from predominantly safe countries, and they’re using it as a way to try and fast-track decisions and returns.

“Now we think there is another way we can fast-track decisions and returns for people who arrive from predominantly safer countries. We should be fast-tracking those cases. We should be making sure you don’t have people spending years in the asylum system, which ends up being hugely costly, hugely chaotic. That’s the system we’ve inherited.”

Asked if he plans to replicate the Italy-Albania agreement, Mr Starmer told broadcasters: “I’m here to have discussions here at this coordination centre and with the Prime Minister about how we deal with unlawful migration. And here there’s been some quite dramatic reductions.

“I want to understand how that came about. It looks as though that’s down to the upstream work that’s being done in some of the countries where people are coming from. I’ve long believed, by the way, that prevention and stopping people travelling in the first place is one of the best ways to deal with this particular issue.”

The Prime Minister made the commitment as he met Italian PM Giorgia Meloni in Rome to discuss the small boats crisis. This funding will support vital infrastructure and renewable energy projects in Africa, helping to reduce the numbers of people who flee their home countries and travel illegally to Europe,” a No10 spokeswoman told reporters in Rome.

The spokeswoman said the Government takes concerns “very seriously” about the treatment of asylum seekers in Tunisia and Libya, who are being paid by the Italian Government to stop people arriving on their shores.

She said: “Obviously we take that incredibly seriously and want to be working more closely with countries upstream. The principles that we’ll be following in everything that we do is that it is workable, affordable and in line with international humanitarian law.

“But it is vital that we stop people from starting these journeys, we’ve seen far too many deaths in the Mediterranean as well as the Channel. So it’s incumbent on us to take an international approach to an international challenge, to stop more lives being lost at sea, not just from the Channel, but also in the Mediterranean.”

The PM also announced investments from two major Italian firms in the UK after meeting business leaders for talks earlier today. Aerospace firm Leonardo will invest £435 million in 2024, while steel manufacturer Marcegaglia, will invest £50 million in Sheffield to build a new clean steel electric arc furnace, creating 50 new jobs.