Keir Starmer claims he will work WITH Marine Le Pen on small boats as nearly 4,000 migrants cross Channel since election announcement
The Labour leader said his party stood ready to "work with whoever"
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to work with Marine Le Pen on the migrant crisis if her party wins the French election.
Speaking at a campaign event in Buckinghamshire on Monday, Starmer said his party stood ready to "work with whoever", and expressed his support for "stronger and better and deeper" agreements with France on "smashing the gangs" bringing illegal migrants to Britain.
Speaking to a throng of reporters in Little Norwood as he toured traditional Tory safe seats, Starmer claimed Le Pen's victory in the first round of France's parliamentary elections was a "lesson" for progressives, but sounded pragmatic on foreign cooperation if a Labour government were formed this week.
The Labour leader said: "I will work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country.
Starmer has said he'd prioritise "smashing the gangs" with any potential French partners
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GB News can reveal that almost 4,000 small boat migrants have now crossed to the UK since Rishi Sunak called the electionPA"For me, that's what serious government is about. So, yes, we will work with whoever.
"I do think it is important that we make the progressive case to meet the challenges that we face across Europe and across the world."
Le Pen has expressed a desire to pursue bilateral deals for France rather than chasing EU-wide ones - and though Starmer has indicated he would rather negotiate a "better deal" with the EU as a bloc, he said both types of agreement were key in getting on top of the small boats crisis.
He said: "Some of the agreements we've got with France are bilateral in any event. I think they need to be stronger and better and deeper, particularly in relation to smashing the gangs that are running the vile trade of putting people into boats.
MORE ON BRITAIN'S SMALL BOATS CRISIS:
Le Pen's National Rally party (RN) surged to a 33.2 per cent vote share
Reuters
"But there are also EU measures... The security agreement we want with the EU when it comes to dealing with smuggling gangs is really important."
Sunday night's results in France handed Le Pen's National Rally party (RN) a 33.2 per cent vote share, ahead of the left-wing alliance in second with 28.1 per cent, and the incumbent President Macron - who called the snap election mere weeks ago - with just 21 per cent of the vote.
But with the French results in mind, and Britain's, of course, yet to come, Starmer was coy on going into precise detail.
He said: "I genuinely don't want to get ahead of myself. Firstly, we haven't seen the final outcome in France. We've also got a big outcome of our own on Thursday.
"I don't think it affects the overall intention we have, which is to negotiate a better deal with the EU.
Starmer was on the campaign trail in traditional Tory heartlands in the Home Counties today
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"I think the deal we've got is botched. I think that anybody who's trading with the EU feels that it's botched, and we can do better than that across not just trade, but actually research and development, also on the security front."
His remarks came as GB News revealed that almost 4,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel since Rishi Sunak's General Election announcement.
Since May 22, a further 3,700 migrants have made the illegal journey - and though the PM had claimed many prospective migrants were waiting in Calais for a potential Labour government, maritime sources quashed Sunak's assertions as "nonsense".
This takes the total number of Channel migrant arrivals this year to more than 13,500 - a nearly 20 per cent increase on the numbers crossing at the same point last year.