Starmer hints Britain will pay countries to TAKE BACK illegal migrants in Italy-style deal
Sir Keir Starmer has opened the door to the UK paying countries to do more to stop migrants entering the UK illegally.
The Prime Minister was responding to reports in The Sunday Times that the Labour Government was looking at striking Italy-style model of paying millions of pounds to countries in return for them doing more to stop migrant crossings.
Speaking to reporters including GB News on the flight to the G20 summit of world leaders in Brazil he said: “Anything else we can do to stop people leaving in the first place is the right thing.”
Since the general election in July 9,400 illegally arrived migrants have been returned to the countries that they came from.
The Sunday Times reported that the Government was in talks with Kurdistan in Iraq, Turkey and Vietnam about new “co-operation and security” deals about migrants that are expected to be confirmed by the end of next month.
Italy has been able to cut crossings by nearly two thirds after deals were struck with Tunisia and Libya.
Asked directly about paying countries to stop migrants leaving their countries and heading to the UK, Starmer said: “Bearing down on the gangs is really important and that’s why I was very pleased to see the arrest on Thursday.
“Anything else we can do to stop people leaving in the first place is the right thing, whatever point of impact and then obviously the returns are very important when people do get here, that’s why I am pleased a large number of people have been returned.”
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Starmer pointed to the arrest of a Turkish man suspected of being a king pin in helping people across the channel.
“A lot of my time and focus has been taking down the gangs in the first place, and that is why I have been in discussion with Macron, with Scholz, Meloni in Italy about this at that level and why I have been pressing hard on law enforcement.
“[It is] why I was very pleased to see the arrest we saw on Thursday in relation to the Turkish individual – that is a very significant arrest…
“My focus is on stopping the arrivals in the first place which is taking down the gangs. Of course, we have got to get the returns sorted out as well.”
Later he added: “I don’t think this is an area where we should just do one thing. We have got to do everything that we can.”
Number 10 sources pointed to the joint media communications plans “to give people an accurate view of the danger of the journey and the legal position they will be in in Europe” as well as “supporting better training for border staff” to identify “people whose travel is being facilitated by gangs”.