Why Sir Keir Starmer's planned 'small boats summit' is clever politics - but will it deliver? - Analysis by Christopher Hope

Keir Starmer, migrant boats

Christopher Hope argues that when Keir Starmer talks about his plans for after July 4 we have to sit up and listen

PA
Christopher Hope

By Christopher Hope


Published: 02/07/2024

- 21:10

Updated: 02/07/2024

- 21:10

'I fully expect the Blenheim meeting to be rebadged by a new Labour government as a small boats summit'

Sir Keir Starmer is doing all he can not to think about after Thursday, when the polls suggest that the first Labour politician to win a general election in nearly two decades.

So when the Labour leader talks about his plans for after July 4 we have to sit up and listen.


One area is on his plans to deal with the crisis of small boats crossings from France.

As Starmer has repeatedly reminded us, more than 50,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister in October 2022.

Keir Starmer, migrant boatsChristopher Hope argues that when Keir Starmer talks about his plans for after July 4 we have to sit up and listenPA

And we know that on "day one" (Starmer's words) he will axe Sunak's plan to ship migrants to Rwanda, and instead work on a different plan combining some form of returns agreements with international partners with better cooperation with Continental law enforcement bodies.

Today, Starmer started to talk about how that will happen if he gets the keys to 10 Downing Street.

The Labour leader told us that, as Prime Minister, he will put the small boats crisis in the English Channel on the agenda at the summit of European leaders at Blenheim Palace in just over a fortnight's time.

He told us today on the campaign trail in the west Midlands that the European Political Community meeting on July 18 "is an opportunity to talk about shared challenges including what we do in to relation small boats because I do believe that with better coordinated law enforcement we can take down the gangs that are running this vile trade".

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Starmer

Keir Starmer is expected to be the new PM after the election on Thursday

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Starmer is essentially hoping to appropriate an existing summit for his own political goals (which he can do, of course, as he is chairing it) as a newly elected UK Prime Minister.

The meeting of the EPC has the added advantage of having a much wider invitation list (44 countries attended its first meeting in October 2022) rather than the usual meetings on the 27 EU member states (which the UK cannot attend).

This means that it is far more appropriate setting to discuss the difficult subject of tackling illegal migration, an issue which is far broader than an EU meeting.

I fully expect the Blenheim meeting to be rebadged by a new Labour government as a small boats summit, a showcase for Starmer to show how the UK will tackle the problem with greater cooperation with our European partners.

UK Border Force bringing in migrants to Dover

Stopping the boats has become a core issue for both parties

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That will be the easy bit of course. Far harder will be delivering any plan that purports to stop the boats. Ask Rishi Sunak.

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