Sir Keir Starmer meeting French President Emmanuel Macron (Image: Getty)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is busy welcoming roughly 50 leaders across Europe at the European Political Community (EPC) summit today.
The fourth of its kind, the EPC summit is taking place at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill who was spoken about highly by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his opening speech.
The summit was prominently trailed in the days leading up, as it proved the forum for Sir Keir’s first meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron since he entered No 10 a fortnight ago, with the Prime Minister having promised to use the meeting to begin rolling back Brexit.
Sir Keir made it clear during the election that if he became Prime Minister he would reset relations between the UK and the EU while pledging not to rejoin the bloc or the Single Market.
Amid the formal beginning of talks this week, Labour is now aiming to create closer ties between Britain and the rest of Europe, ignoring fury from pro-Brexit politicians.
Sir Keir is set to sit down for a formal bilateral meeting and dinner with President Macron this evening, where the duo are expected to discuss issues such as immigration and trade, as well as how to work more closely to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.
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One of the first announcements Sir Keir made when he became Prime Minister was to make it clear the Rwanda "bill was dead and buried". The new government wants to replace the bill with a border command force.
With five tragic deaths in the Channel last week, stopping the boats is one of Keir Starmer's top political priorities amid the threat to Labour from Reform UK.
Opening the summit, the PM made it very clear he wants "to set a new path on illegal migration".
The Labour Party has argued that creating safe routes is the best way to stop asylum seekers from making dangerous journeys, along with breaking up the people smuggler gangs.
Immigration is also an issue for President Macron, with the recent elections in France showing the threat from the far right unless the French leader gets to grips with their own migration crisis.
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Questions will be raised if Sir Keir can improve the deal Boris Johnson negotiated with the EU. The Conservatives criticised labour during the election saying their policy would not act as a deterrent
So far the UK Government has sent France ￡500million to help tackle the small boats crisis. There are also concerns about how well the French are policing the channel.
A Daily Express investigation in 2023 found the police partying rather than doing the job that the British government paid them to do.
This was criticised by the then-senior Tory MP David Jones.
He said: “Congratulations to the Express on this investigation. It simply confirms what many of us have long suspected: that the French commitment to stopping the vile people-smuggling trade is little more than a facade.”
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With Labour promising to send even more money to the French government, time will tell if cooperation will improve.
But with a far right French PM installed, the world will wait and watch whether crossings rise or fall.
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