Keir Starmer seals intelligence-sharing offers in combat towards small boat smugglers

The UK has reached new intelligence-sharing deals with three Balkan countries that tens of thousands of asylum seekers travel through each year.

Keir Starmer says the agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo will help the battle against smuggling gangs fuelling small boat crossings. He will meet European leaders in Hungary and call for greater co-operation to deal with the crisis.

It comes after he complained this week that Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal means the UK is unable to take the lead in operations targeting people smugglers. Mr Starmer said: “There is a criminal empire operating on our continent, exacting a horrendous human toll and undermining our national security.

“Backed by our new Border Security Command, the UK will be at the heart of the efforts to end the scourge of organised immigration crime – but we cannot do it in isolation.”

The PM will chair a meeting about migration at the European Political Community gathering in Hungary calling on leaders to find new ways to reduce irregular migration across the continent. Almost 100,000 migrants passed through the Western Balkans last year – making it a key route for those trying to reach Europe and the UK.

The Government said the new agreements will improve intelligence sharing, expertise and co-operation in order to intercept and arrest the gangs.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ” “Our work with our partners in the Western Balkans is absolutely key to dismantling the criminal networks that orchestrate the exploitation of vulnerable people for financial gain.

“Working more closely with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo, we will share information and intelligence, and work across borders to map out what is happening and where, to break the business models of these unscrupulous gangs at source. Through our intensified work, criminals will soon realise they have nowhere to hide.”

The PM will say that all European nations bear a responsibility to crack down on people smugglers. It comes after he pleaded with world leaders for help with the “war” on people trafficking.

On Monday Mr Starmer told reporters at the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow that he will seek a new security pact with Europe. He said he hopes to improve the UK’s Brexit agreement, telling The Mirror : “I do think when it comes to security, we can do better than the deal we’ve got and that’s what we’re pursuing. I don’t think the deal we got was a particularly good one.

“I don’t think we did as well as we should have done when we came to the question of cross border crime and security, and that’s why we want to improve on it.”