Keir Starmer claimed Labour would stop deportation flights to Rwanda on its first day in power and will seek talks with European countries to reach a security agreement to tackle people-smuggling gangs, according to i.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday he would end such a trend of a government plan to send people to the UK on small boats to Rwanda. He told Sky News:
“There’ll be no flights. I want to scrap the scheme so that means the flights won’t be going. There will be no flights scheduled or taking off after the general election if Labour wins that general election. No flights, no Rwanda scheme, it’s a gimmick, it’s very expensive, it won’t work.”
Starmer announced his plan to crack down on small boat crossings, which also included a new Border Security Command with “hundreds of specialised investigators”, new counter-terrorism powers to tackle smugglers, hopes for a new partnership with Europol and a rules-based asylum system.
It is still unclear how long such agreements will take, and what measures will be put in place between the end of the Rwandan scheme and successful agreements to help break up smuggling gangs to keep asylum seekers from dangerously crossing the Channel.
“I think the scheme is a gimmick. I’m not flogging a dead horse; I’m not prepared to do government by gimmick. I want to start on day one, not with flights taking off by absolutely investing my political capital in the law enforcement.”
The Labour leader outlined his alternative plan to tackle small boat crossings with a focus on tackling people smugglers in a speech in Dover. The party has not made formal appeals to European countries, but sources said they were confident it would be able to reach an agreement with partner nations.
In the interview with Sky News, he confirmed that under a Labour government there would be no deportation flights to Rwanda from day one – even those already scheduled. This came after a legal document said the government viewed 24 June as the earliest date for the flight to depart.
There’ll be no flights. Every flight that takes off carries with it a cheque to the Rwanda government.
The Labour party’s focus, according to Starmer, will be on tackling the problem launched by a security operation to tackle criminal gangs smuggling people across the continent, arguing that this will act as a greater deterrent than the government’s plan to deport people to Rwanda, as as the Rwandan government earlier said it could not guarantee how many migrants it would accept from Britain.
Part of Labour’s plan calls for the party to seek closer cooperation with European agencies and countries through a new security agreement that would give the UK access to intelligence and allow British security officers to play a more prominent role in Europol.
Asked whether Labour had received any assurances from European counterparts about whether they would agree to this, Starmer indicated that some talks had taken place but refused to say any commitments had been made. He said:
“We can co-operate across borders, that’s not some kind of weakness, it’s absolutely essential. These criminals do not respect national boundaries. So yes – we need more co-operation on illegal migration. We need a new partnership with Europol. We need access to the real-time intelligence-sharing networks that are so crucial to our security and which the Government so casually threw away as part of its botched Brexit deal.”
Asked whether safe and legal routes for asylum seekers would play a role in stopping the Channel crossing, Starmer said: “The most effective way to stop the crossings is to break gangs.” Safe and legal routes already exist for asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Hong Kong, he said. Starmer announced a plan to spend £75 million to fund hundreds of specialist officer posts to tackle people smuggling with new counter-terrorism powers.
It was revealed on Thursday that 211 people have crossed the English Channel, according to provisional Home Office figures. The provisional total number of arrivals by small craft in 2024 is 9,037. This represents a 35 per cent increase from 6,691 at the same time last year.
Both Labour and the Conservatives believe that tackling small boat border crossings and the approach to the government’s planned deportation scheme from Rwanda will be key dividing lines in the upcoming general election.
The latest Survation poll, released on 9 May, shows Labour winning the next general election with 486 seats – 45% of the vote – while the Tories are 19 points behind with 26%.
