Starmer's hopes of illegal immigration crackdown DASHED as Macron issues warning to new PM
President Macron meets Sir Keir Starmer
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President Emmanuel Macron has told Sir Keir Starmer there is no "silver bullet" to solve the problem of illegal immigration.
The French leader was speaking as the Prime Minister is hosting European leaders from across the continent at the European Political Community summit.
The event, taking place at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, comes as the Government attempts to forge tighter links with the European Union (EU) after Brexit.
Sir Keir Starmer said he intends to "reset our relationship with Europe" and is calling for continent-wide action to tackle the international "people-smuggling webs."
President Macron meets Sir Keir Starmer
PA
However, the French president issued a warning that there was no easy fix to the problem of illegal immigrants.
Speaking to reporters on his way into Blenheim Palace, he said: "This is my point. There is no silver bullet because we do know the situation. We do our best. We did improve the situation during the past few years…"
More than 380,000 people are believed to have entered the EU through irregular routes in 2023 – an increase of 17 per cent on the previous year.
Around 41 per cent of those arrivals are believed to have come in small boats across the Central Mediterranean, 26 per cent on land through the Balkans, and 16 per cent coming across the Eastern Mediterranean.
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President Macron arrives at Blenheim Palace
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A new Border Security Command will use counter-terror powers to fight organised immigration crime, working “across Europe and beyond”, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
“Dangerous small boat crossings are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk,” she said.
“Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small boat crossings and the Tories left us with gimmick rather than grip.
“We will work right across Europe to tackle this problem at source, going after those profiting from this awful trade and bringing them to justice.”
President Macron
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Speaking ahead of today's event, the Prime Minister said: "We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future.
"That is why European security will be at the forefront of this Government’s foreign and defence priorities, and why I am focused on seizing this moment to renew our relationship with Europe.
"The EPC will fire the starting gun on this Government’s new approach to Europe, one that will not just benefit us now, but for generations to come, from dismantling the people-smuggling webs trafficking people across Europe, to standing up to Putin’s barbaric actions in Ukraine and destabilising activity across Europe."