Starmer will cancel all Rwanda flights on first day in power

Labour will end Rwanda deportations flights on day one of taking power and seek talks with European countries including Germany, France and Spain to reach a security deal to tackle people smuggling gangs.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday he would end the “gimmick” of the Government’s plan to send people to arrive in the UK in small boats to Rwanda “straight away”.

He had previously suggested that while he would cancel the scheme, flights that were already scheduled would go ahead.

The Conservatives have argued that scrapping the deterrent would only see the asylum backlog grow further.

Some of Labour’s plan will still requires agreement from EU counterparts, however, which would have to be negotiated if the party is elected into Government.

It is unclear how long such agreements would take, and what measures would be in place between the end of the Rwanda scheme and successful agreements to help break smuggling gangs, to deter asylum seekers from making the perilous Channel crossing.

The Labour leader set out his alternative plan to tackle the small boat crossings with a focus on cracking down on people smugglers in a speech in Dover.

The party has not made formal approaches to European countries but sources said they are confident that it will be able to reach an agreement with partner nations.

Starmer said he began early talks when he, and shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, visited The Hague last year to meet representatives of Europol.

He said he was “confident if we are serious about this we can get the agreement we need”.

He confirmed, in an interview with Sky News, that no deportation flights to Rwanda would take off under a Labour government from day one – even those already scheduled.

It comes after a legal document suggested the Government was looking at 24 June as the earliest date to send a flight.

A Home Office source said 24 June date was the earliest possible date flights could take off – but pointed to the timeline previously set out by the PM which referred to early July as the likely time frame.

Speaking to Sky, Starmer said: “There’ll be no flights. Every flight that takes off carries with it a cheque to the Rwanda government.

Referring to the new border security command he intends to establish, he added: “So I want to scrap the scheme so that means the flights won’t be going and use the money towards the command.”

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Pressed by Sky presenter Beth Rigby whether this meant no flights at all he added: “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.

He said his focus would be on dealing with the issue at source by launching a security operation to tackle criminal gangs smuggling people across the continent, arguing this would act as more of a deterrent than the Government’s plan to deport people to Rwanda.

But part of Labour’s plan requires the party to “seek to negotiate” closer cooperation with European agencies and countries through a new security agreement which would give the UK access to intelligence and allow British security officers to play a more prominent role in Europol’s work.

Pressed by i on whether Labour had been given any assurances from European counterparts whether they would agree to this, Starmer indicated some talks have taken place but declined to say that any commitment has been given.

Making the case for cooperation in the speech, Starmer said: “Agencies can work together and deliver results. And not just within one country either.

“We can co-operate across borders, that’s not some kind of weakness, it’s absolutely essential. These criminals do not respect national boundaries.”

He adds: “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.”

One European Commission official told i that being part of Eurodac – an EU database of irregular migrants which Labour wants to become a part of – would “be an important step in tackling crime together and building law and order cooperation”.

Thijs Reuten, an MEP with the Dutch Labour Party, praised the plans set out by Starmer and said EU nations were “ready to work together” on the proposals.

“Part of the new course is reaching out again to the EU for genuine cooperation in the best interest of both the EU and the UK as partners. We are ready to work together with a new Labour government to explore possibilities to make this work.”

When asked what success would look like with regard to reducing the boat crossings, Starmer said he would like the number of crossings to “come down completely” but would not put a number on it.

The Conservative Party criticised Labour’s alternative plan and pointed out Labour had refused to categorically say it would “stop the boats”.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said Labour would “create a haven for criminal gangs, not stop them”.

A Tory source said it was “hard to see” how Starmer’s plan was not just a “weaker” approach which would lead to more asylum seekers in the UK.

The Government already has some existing deals in place with France to bolster enforcement across the Channel as part of plans to reduce boat crossings. Last year it signed a deal with Turkey to disrupt people smuggling gangs.

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“Ruling all of these things out to simply rebrand our Small Boats Operational Command that does everything they say their new unit will do and led by a former major general and head of Sandhurst, it’s hard to see what is new here and how it isn’t a weaker response that will deter nobody, and force Labour to simply absorb more illegal entry into this country,” they told i.

The Tories also pointed out Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper did not deny, when pressed, that boat crossings may rise under Labour because asylum seekers will know they do not face deportation.

Pressed on this on the Today programme, Ms Cooper said: “I think we’re being very clear. We want a new border security command that will go after these criminal gangs[…] but the problem with the Rwanda scheme is we know this is only likely to be a few hundred people.”

Both Labour and the Conservatives believe tackling small boat crossings, and the approach to the Government’s planned Rwanda deportation scheme, will be key dividing lines in the looming general election.

Starmer hinted at this in his speech, saying that he was unveiling a “new manifesto commitment” to set up a border control unit.

He said wanted to “rebuild Britain’s broken asylum system” but steered clear of revealing any details of what Labour would do regarding introducing official routes for asylum seekers.