Keir Starmer today declared that he was bringing back “British pragmatism”.
But does that stretch to copying the approach of Italy’s hard-right prime minister when it comes to tackling illegal immigration?
Starmer laughed and joked with Giorgia Meloni when the pair met in Rome.
The PM praised the “remarkable progress” the Italian government has made in reducing the number of migrants entering the country illegally.
In the past year, there has been a 60% drop in boat crossings from north Africa to Italy - a record that Starmer, and his predecessor Rishi Sunak, could only dream about as large numbers of asylum seekers continue to come across the Channel from France.
So how has Italy done it? And what are the chances of the UK government following suit?
Money Talks
Italy has struck financial agreements with countries like Tunisia and Libya to stop the boats setting off in the first place.
The cash is designed to boost economic growth in Africa, as well as limiting the number of migrants trying to reach Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.
Sunak agreed a similar arrangement with France, but it seems to have had little impact so far in stemming the flow of boats reaching British shores.
Figures released by the Home Office showed that more than 1,000 migrants arrived on 20 boats over the weekend.
Meloni’s Albania Agreement
The Italian PM wants to go even further by processing asylum applications in a third country, namely Albania.
Under a deal struck with the government in Tirana, anyone making it to Italy would be sent to Albania to have their claims for asylum dealt with.
Any successful applications would return to Italy, but those who fail will be returned to their own country.
At her press conference with Starmer in Rome today, Meloni said she hoped the scheme would be up and running in weeks.
What’s more, she said the PM was “very interested” in how it worked during their discussions.
Asked earlier in the day whether he would consider seeking a similar agreement to deal with asylum seekers in Britain, Starmer said: “Let’s see. It’s early days, I’m interested in how that works, I think everybody else is. It’s very, very early days.”
Isn’t That A Bit Like Rwanda?
The idea of deporting asylum seekers to a third country is very similar to the Rwanda scheme drawn up by the last Tory government and dumped by Labour as soon as they took office in July.
There is one major difference, though. Under the Rwanda deal, the asylum seekers would not have been able to come back to the UK, regardless of whether their asylum claim was granted or not.
Heaping praise on Meloni’s approach, Starmer told her: “You’ve made remarkable progress working with countries along migration routes as equals to address the drivers of migration, of source and to tackle the [smuggling] gangs.”
And in a strong hint that he may well follow her example of how to deal with the issue of illegal migration, the PM said: “We are pragmatists, first and foremost. When we see a challenge, we discuss with our friends and allies the different approaches that are being taken, look at what works, and that’s the approach that we’ve taken today. And it’s been a very productive day.”