Labour has been dealt a fresh blow as it scrambles to contain the fallout from Albania's snubbing of the return hubs immigration proposal.
Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer told a press conference in Albanian capital Tirana that he has authorised discussions with a string of Balkan states that would see the UK pay to send failed asylum seekers overseas.
However, just minutes later, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama rebutted the PM's claim, ruling out copying the current agreement they have with the Italian government, saying that was just a "one-off."
In the wake of the snubbing, education secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted that the government never intended for Albania to accommodate the UK's failed asylum seekers.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama gestures as he welcomes Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Reuters
She told Times Radio: "This was never intended to be part of our discussions with Albania. We already knew the position of the Albanian government to have an exclusive arrangement with Italy.
"I think people are rather overreading the discussions around Albania.
"It was never our intention, never the prime minister’s intention to have that discussion with the Albanian prime minister because we already knew the government’s position on this matter."
However, a statement from the Home Office back in March appears to contradict this assertion.
WATCH: Former immigration minister blasts Starmer's returns deal
It was floated at the time that failed asylum seekers could be sent to the Balkans under plans being considered by the government.
As part of the announcement, the proposals were focused on countries in the western Balkans, a region which specifically includes Albania, as well as Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Home Office has declined to comment on this.
Labour's immigration crackdown comes after the number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel surges.
More than 12,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.
The rise is thought to be partly due to an increase in so-called “red days”, when the weather is particularly good for crossings. So far there have been around double the number of red days in 2025 than there were by the same point in 2024.
Smugglers are also cramming more people into the boats, with sources suggesting migrants, increasingly from the Horn of Africa, are more likely to take risks.
