Starmer in bed with EU: Labour leader reveals plan to open Britain's doors and take migrants from Europe
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to "smash the gangs" if Labour comes into power
PA
Macron has broken with protocol to hold a meeting with Sir Keir Starmer next week, taking place just days after Labour unveiled a new plan to work with the EU to solve the migrant crisis.
The French President plans to host Starmer at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday.
It represents a significant break with protocol, as Macron generally only holds meetings with opposition leaders from his own "political family", such as those belonging to his European Renew group.
The French government said they agreed to the meeting claiming that it is important for Starmer to "test" French reactions to Labour policies.
Starmer would scrap the Government's policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda
PA
The news of the meeting comes amid a major Labour policy announcement on migration.
While Starmer vowed to "smash" migrant gangs if Labour comes into power, the plan also saw Starmer admit he would scrap the government's policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.
He also said he would abandon the government's plan to ban cross-Channel migrants from claiming asylum in Britain.
Starmer described the government's approach as unsustainable, adding: "We have to process the claims. Those who aren’t entitled to be here should be returned and returned quickly."
The opposition leader also said he wants to develop a cross-border approach to tackling the gangs.
But hitting out at the plan, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "Finally we see Sir Keir Starmer’s migration plan.
"He’ll let Brussels decide who comes to the UK.
"He’ll agree to make Britain the dumping ground for many of the millions of illegal migrants that Europe doesn’t want. And none of this will stop the boats."
Starmer's plan to stop the boats also involves the expansion of laws used to target serious criminals, terrorists and drug traffickers.
In what is his first significant intervention in the small boats crisis, the Labour leader said: "The features are the same.
"Very few terrorist operations are within one nation, one border. They are nearly all cross-border."They are highly organised and involve the movement of people and apparatus across borders. There’s usually a lot of finance involved."
He hit out at the Government's Rwanda policy, describing it as inhumane, ineffective and poor value for money.
Ultimately, the labour leader said he is planning to seek an EU-wide returns agreement for asylum seekers who arrive in Britain.
The Labour leader promised to expand the use of serious crime prevention orders, which can be used to restrict the movement of individuals and freeze assets.
Unlike normal sentencing, the penalties can be applied to suspects before they have been convicted.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Starmer described the government approach as unsustainable
PA
Starmer explained: "They’ve been used, these powers, for terrorism, for drug trafficking, but they’ve never been used for serious, organised immigration crime.
"My own view is that they should be used for that."
In an interview with the Times, the Leader of the Opposition said: "I was involved in this sort of work when I was director of public prosecutions.
"What I want to replicate is the model that I used for very serious organised crime across borders.
"That involves real-time intelligence sharing. It involves decisions about what evidence can be used, where a case is going to be prosecuted, and then operational details about where arrests are going to take, at what time."