A minister has been confronted over Keir Starmer cosying up with the Italian PM after she passed a cruel law which charities say puts migrants’ lives at risk.
Dame Angela Eagle hinted at a rift between the UK and Italy over Giorgia Meloni’s methods, which have been heavily criticised. Legislation put forward by Ms Meloni’s hard-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, rescue charities can only carry out one rescue at a time, and can face large fines if they disobey.
Humanitarian groups say this means they are forced to leave drowning people behind as they travel back to designated ports, which can be hundreds of miles away. It comes after Mr Starmer said Italy had made “remarkable progress” in stopping people crossing the Mediterranean into Europe after a 60% drop in a year.
Asked if Labour condones fining captains who carry out more than one rescue at a time, Home Office minister Dame Angela told Sky News “The Italians are a NATO partner and a G7 country, Prime Minister Meloni is entitled to her views.
“We don’t have to agree with all of her views just because we’ve met with her.” Pressed again on whether she would condemn Ms Meloni’s government, Dame Angela said: “You’ve got to save lives at sea. You have to rescue. That is what international maritime law says .”
Human rights groups have also warned that an Italian deal with Libya means people are forced into detention camps where they face torture. Asked if the UK government supports that, Dame Angela said: “No, of course not.”
She said: “Meeting with the Italians doesn’t mean we endorse absolutely everything every single Italian member of the government says or does. But we are meeting a G7 country and a fellow Nato member to see how we can co-operate across border to deal with some of these vile people smuggling gangs.”
Dame Angela has announced a further £75million to “beef up” the UK’s Border Security Command, with extra investigators working with European intelligence groups. The Italian Government has brokered a deal to send asylum seekers to Albania to have their applications processed, which is known as offshoring. Ms Meloni told a joint press conference that she had discussed the Albanian deal with Mr Starmer, adding: “The UK Government has shown great interest in this agreement.”
Grilled on whether he should be cosying up to a hard-right government accused of turning a blind eye to human rights breaches, Mr Starmer said: “Italy is an ally. It’s a G7 member and ally. It’s a NATO ally. We share a long history.”
He was also challenged over Italian Deputy PM Matteo Salvini, who is being pursued by prosecutors for blocking a migrant boat from docking in August 2019 for nearly three weeks. Mr Starmer refused to say if he was comfortable working with him, adding: “Italy’s an ally and we work with our allies.”
His decision to work closely with Ms Meloni hasn’t been welcomed across his party. Labour backbencher Nadia Whittome posted on Twitter: “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.”
A No10 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.