British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he’s looking to his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni for lessons on tackling what is known as irregular migration, as Britain’s leader grapples with an issue fueling a rise in Western democracies of right-wing parties that are not natural allies of his Labour government.
Speaking after their meeting and working lunch in Rome on Monday, Starmer signaled he’s watching how Italy’s plan to process asylum applications offshore in Albania pans out, and that he’s also interested in measures Meloni has taken in migrants’ countries of origin to cut arrivals in Italy "quite significantly.”
He repeatedly referred to his apparent willingness to listen to overseas right-wing politicians on immigration as "pragmatism” as he looks for ways to stem the flow of migrants across the English Channel.
"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, and look at what works,” Starmer said in a joint news conference, standing next to Meloni.
But his comments reflect an awkward political reality. Especially on the left of his party, people are squeamish about what they see as Starmer taking a tough line on immigration. Yet the prime minister also knows that voters’ concerns about high levels of net migration — and the former Conservative government’s failure to deal with it — contributed to Labour’s landslide election victory in July.
That came in part because many Tory supporters switched to the anti-immigration Reform U.K. party, splitting the right-wing vote and easing Labour’s path to power. Starmer’s aides have privately argued that a strong border policy is fundamental to stopping Reform gaining further ground at Labour’s expense, and to ensure his government isn’t limited to one term in office.
It’s also the case that some of Britain’s traditional allies are shifting further to the right on immigration, and the meeting of Starmer and Meloni — who have clearly contrasting personal politics — offers some insight into how Starmer might try to handle a potential second Donald Trump presidency in the U.S.
"We are allied countries, we are members of NATO together, we are G7 (Group of Seven) partners, we work on Ukraine together, we work on Middle East together,” Starmer said when asked if he is comfortable with Italy’s migration approach given Meloni’s government has faced criticism from human rights groups. "I don’t think anybody will think it’s sensible for us not to continue with that strong bilateral approach on those really important global issues, which is what we discussed today. Italy’s an ally and we work with our allies.”
Starmer, in office for just over two months, wants to cut the number of migrants reaching Britain by small boats from France after people making the crossings surged to the tens of thousands in recent years. But while his team has assessed the danger of appearing a soft touch on borders, Starmer also wants to draw a line under Conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak’s approach.
One of his first acts in government was to scrap Sunak’s plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. Despite the former Tory government never actually getting flights off the ground, Starmer wants an alternative to get numbers down. In the news conference, he said 3,000 people had already been returned to their country of origin since the government took office.
The question is whether he’s willing or planning to copy Italy’s plan to offshore the processing of asylum claims. That’s different to Sunak’s deportation plan, which included no prospect of those taken to Rwanda being brought back to the U.K., though it still risks angering some in his party.
Earlier this year, Meloni announced a controversial plan to divert migrants seeking to reach the Italian mainland to two hubs built in Albania and run by Italian authorities. But while Meloni said the plan will move forward, it has been hit by bureaucratic delays and lack of clarity on who will be sent there.
Starmer has also spoken of breaking up the people-smuggling gangs arranging the migrant crossings, and he took his newly appointed Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt with him to Rome. The two prime ministers sounded in sync, as Meloni — who spoke mostly in Italian — broke into English to say the key is to "follow the money.” She also said Italy and the U.K. would share intelligence.
The two leaders also discussed issues including Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza Strip and business investment. Starmer — who held a round table with Italian businesses earlier on Monday — also announced nearly £500 million ($660 million) of investment by Leonardo and Marcegaglia Steel in the U.K., a move his office said would boost British jobs in the industrial sector.
The meeting was part of Starmer’s effort to reset relations with European nations following a fractious eight years since the U.K. voted for Brexit. But the shifting politics in the European Union have complicated his efforts to take a shared approach on key issues like immigration.
On Monday, Starmer indicated how he plans to adapt. "In a sense today was a return, if you like, to British pragmatism,” he said.
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