Keir Starmer assures there will be 'NO return to freedom of movement' despite desires for 'stronger relationship' with the EU

Starmer told GB News: "We're hoping to ensure that we get a stronger trading relationship with the EU. That's what we're working towards, it will be good for our country.

"I'm not going to give a running commentary on the negotiations, but I was clear in our manifesto there will be no return to freedom of movement, and the red lines we put in our manifesto remain our red lines."

Highlighting the UK's recent trade deals with America and India, Starmer assured: "We've done a deal with India - the last government took eight years and failed, we came in ten months, we got that deal, and done a deal with the US. Again, much talked about but we've done it.

"That will be measured in thousands of jobs in our economy, billions of pounds. And I do want a stronger trading relationship with the EU. And of course, to have better arrangements on security and defence, vitally important at this time."

Turning the discussion to illegal migration, Starmer was grilled by Christopher Hope on whether the migrant hotels are a "pull factor" for those making the perilous journey across the Channel.

The Prime Minister said: "Let me be absolutely clear why we're in the mess we're in. The last government had an open borders experiment, many people came to the United Kingdom and they didn't process the claims.

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"So you've got tens of thousands of people whose claims haven't been processed. Therefore they couldn't be returned under the last government. They were put in hotels."

Pressed on whether it is "acceptable" for the British taxpayer to be "picking up the bill" for migrant hotels, Starmer responded: "That's not acceptable. That's why we've allocated all the extra resource to processing the claims.

"Where we've processed the claims, and people shouldn't be in the country, they've been removed. 24,000 have been removed - that's the highest figure for nearly a decade.

"They're out of the country, they have no right to be here. That is the way we bring down these numbers. That's the way we get people out of hotels."

He added: "Under the last government, there were there were, I think, 400 hotels. We've got it down to just over 200, that's not good enough, but it does show that we're making a difference."

Discussing Starmer's latest deal with Albania, Christopher pressed the Prime Minister on whether he's noticed a "boom" in Albanian-run Turkish barbers in Britain.

Starmer told GB News: "Well, I'm concerned about anybody coming into our country who is not acting lawfully.

"One of the issues we've been dealing with on the border here is looking for cash for cars that are the products of the drug trade, in particular cannabis and cocaine.

"I am absolutely convinced that in order to take effective action, we have to work with other countries joint operations like this on the border, where we're using intelligence from both countries at a point of enforcement is the most effective way to deal with it."