Countries which fail to stop migrants travelling illegally to the UK could have their annual visa quotas docked, Sir Keir Starmer has said as part of "innovative solution" to stop boats.
The Prime Minister also guaranteed that all migrant hotels will be emptied by 2029, but he would not say if they will be just be moved into flats and Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
Starmer was speaking to GB News' Political Editor Christopher Hope on the margins of the G8 summit in Canada in a week when as many as 2,000 migrants are estimated to have cross the English Channel into southern England.
Starmer said: "We are looking a much more smart way of how we do visas, perhaps more transactional.
The Prime Minister said that he is having "intense" discussions with partners at the G7
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"Looking at the countries that we have visa arrangements with and asking ourselves are there enough preventative measures; have we got a returns agreement."
"I accept that we need to do more - that is why I am having intense discussions here with our partners here at the G7."
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Starmer raised the issue of tackling the small boats crossings at a session of the G8. The Labour Government is committed to "smashing the criminal gangs" which enable the illegal crossings.
On the issue of migrant hotels, the PM said he would guarantee they are emptied by the next general election, expected in 2029.
Asked if he can guarantee that all migrant hotels will be emptied, he said: "Yes. We are working to that and the way to do that is to process the claims."
Keir Starmer faced a grilling from GB News' Christopher Hope
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Asked if they will just go into flats and HMOs, he said: "The ideal situation is they're processed, and if they've got no right to be here, they're removed to the country they came from.
"And that's why I'm really pleased that in less than a year, that's what we've done with 30,000 [removals from the UK]."
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