Keir Starmer pledges £4m funding for Italy to stop small boat migrants – as Channel crossing continues

SIR Keir Starmer is to donate £4m of taxpayers’ money to Italy to stop migrants coming to its shores.

The measure aims to tackle the causes of illegal migration by deterring people from making the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.

Keir Starmer in Rome to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia MeloniSource: AFP

Sir Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni at the 4th Summit of the European Political Community in JulySource: Getty

Since the start of the year, 23,241 small boats have arrived, including 9,667 since Sir Keir became Prime MinisterSource: AFP

The prime minister made the announcement during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome, after the two had a working lunch at Villa Doria Pamphili.

Meloni also revealed that Sir Keir showed “great interest” in Italy’s deal to process asylum applications in Albania.

A Downing Street spokesman said the money would go to the Rome Process, a project run by the Italian government, and would support “vital infrastructure and renewable energy projects” in Africa.

This will help reduce “the number of people fleeing their home countries and travelling illegally to Europe”.

The spokesperson added: “The UK and Italy will also agree to work more closely together to tackle illicit money flows linked to organised crime. immigration crime and increase intelligence sharing to disrupt supply chains used by human smugglers gangs.”

Speaking in Rome alongside Meloni, Sir Keir said progress could be made on “the challenge of illegal migration”.

The Prime Minister said: “As Director of Public Prosecutions in Britain a number of years ago I saw how much important work could be done across borders in areas such as counter-terrorism and I have never accepted, as we discussed, that we cannot do that with smuggling gangs as well.

“And now, of course, Italy has shown that we can do it. You have made remarkable progress by working with countries along migration routes as equals to tackle the causes of migration at their source and to tackle the gangs.”

Pressure is mounting on Sir Keir to deliver on his pledge to “destroy the gangs” after eight migrants died attempting to cross the Channel on Sunday morning.

On the eve of his visit to Rome, Sir Keir appointed Chief Inspector Martin Hewitt as head of the newly created Border Security Command, which is charged with tackling criminal networks operating in small boats.

Starmer has promised to destroy the gangs – the pressure to deliver is now high

By Martina Bet, political correspondent in Rome

Sir Keir Starmer has taken a significant step by opening talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Rishi Sunak’s closest allies on the global stage, to tackle illegal migration.

Sir Keir flew to Rome for what sources described as a “very long” working lunch with Meloni at the historic Villa Doria Pamphili.

He was particularly interested in how Italy had managed to reduce the number of migrants by 60 percent over the past year, thanks to major financial deals with North African countries such as Tunisia.

These agreements have been widely praised for reducing the number of migrants crossing the border. Italy is optimistic that the number of migrants will fall even further once the planned migrant processing centre in Meloni, Albania, opens later this year.

Sir Keir has expressed interest in establishing similar agreements for processing asylum claims in third countries. This would differ from the scrapped Rwanda programme, which would have left even successful asylum seekers stuck in the country.

This approach is a bold move by the Prime Minister, a break with traditional Labour policy and a demonstration of his commitment to tackling the complex problem of illegal migration.

But it also makes him vulnerable to criticism.

Human rights groups and progressive voices within his party are likely to worry about the ethical implications of outsourcing asylum procedures to other countries.

But more importantly, there are only so many times he can promise to “crush the gangs” before the words begin to ring hollow. Voters want to see concrete action that produces concrete results.

And with the number of Channel crossings showing no signs of slowing, he is under immense pressure to turn the tide.

He and Mr Hewitt, a former chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), see Italy’s impressive 60 per cent drop in illegal migration as a blueprint for Britain’s new strategy.

They visited the National Migration Coordination Centre in Rome earlier today, where officials from the EU border agency Frontex are working with the Italians to coordinate their response.

To curb migration, Ms Meloni struck a deal with Albania last year, allowing a number of asylum seekers to be sent to the Balkan country for processing.

However, this option is only available to migrants from countries that Italy considers “safe”.

The controversial deal has drawn comparisons with the UK’s now-abandoned Rwanda plan,

But under the Albanian deal, migrants granted asylum would not be forced to stay there, unlike the Rwanda deal, which would have left successful asylum applications stuck in the country.

Asked whether he would follow Italy’s lead, Sir Keir indicated at the weekend that he was open to the idea, saying: “Let’s see. It’s early days, I’m interested to see how it works out, like everyone else.”

At the press conference, Meloni said: “We talked about the agreement between Italy and Albania, which the British government is paying a lot of attention to.”

Although the Albania The deal is not yet fully in effect, Italy has also entered into financial deals with Tunisia and Libya – major departure points for migrants trying to reach Europe.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC this morning: “There are four different things that the Italians do that we are interested in.

“The first is the work they do around organized immigration crime.

“That is the work that we are now substantially preparing, involving a huge technology also upgrade, and where we want to cooperate with Italy, with Germanywith other European countries, with France also.

“The second thing they do is they work with other countries upstream to prevent people from leaving North Africa in the first place… they work with Tunisiawe believe that we should also be part of these international partnerships.

“The third thing they do is big returns. So they accelerate the returns to those who have no right to be there. We have done that through the summer In addition, we have seen a significant increase in the number of returns of people who do not have the right to stay in the UK, as the rules must be respected and enforced.

“The fourth thing they are doing is the Albanian programme, but that hasn’t started yet, so we’ll have to wait and see what that does. It’s very different to the partnership with Rwanda that the British government had, and we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.”

During the press conference, the Prime Minister also confirmed that two major Italian companies – Leonardo, a defence firm, and Marcegaglia, a steel manufacturer – are investing £485 million in UK defence, clean growth and innovation.