KEIR Starmer’s meeting with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been labelled “deeply disturbing”.
It comes after the Prime Minister’s trip to Rome in which he praised the Italian leader’s migration policies.
The Italian premier said Starmer (below) has shown “great interest” in the country's deal with Albania, which will see irregular migrants entering Italy processed in the Balkan nation under Italian jurisdiction.
He also vowed £4 million to help Italy tackle the root causes of irregular migration although stopped short of endorsing the Albania deal explicitly, insisting he was interested in Italy’s migration policies more widely.
Critics have argued the Albania deal could put asylum seekers at risk although Meloni dismissed these claims in a joint press conference with Starmer.
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She said: “I don’t know what human rights violations you’re referring to, to be totally frank. This accusation, I think it’s completely groundless.”
Reacting to the meeting, Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman (below) said: “It is deeply disturbing to see a Labour Prime Minister sharing a stage with a far-right demagogue like Giorgia Meloni and praising policies that are every bit as horrific as anything the Tories came up with.
“Keir Starmer is meant to be a human rights lawyer, so why is he praising one of the most reactionary and authoritarian leaders in Europe.”
The Prime Minister suggested that the country’s reduction in numbers of those seeking asylum was “more likely attributable to the work that the prime minister has done upstream” rather than in the Albanian deal specifically.
Chapman continued: “This past weekend eight people died trying to cross the channel. Nobody should have to die like that. Their lives were lost to a system that persecutes and punishes some of the world’s most marginalised people.
“Our focus must be on creating safe routes and supporting our fellow human beings, not on continuing with a hostile environment that thrives on cruelty and punishes vulnerability. We must end the era of dawn raids, forced deportations and arbitrary detention.
“With more people losing their lives needlessly, we must build a system based on compassion, empathy and solidarity rather than the calculated cruelty and hostility of Meloni.”
Starmer meanwhile commented: “I have always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived in any of our countries. I was very interested in that.
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“In a sense, today was a return – if you like – to British pragmatism.”
Italy has paid north African countries – where people depart for Europe – to boost border security and coastguard capability, which Starmer said seemed to have had a “profound effect”.
The Prime Minister’s emphasis on pragmatism comes after discontent among his back benches over the show of close collaboration with Meloni’s national-conservative administration.
he visit also comes as the country’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini faces charges of kidnap and dereliction of duty over a decision in 2019 to stop a migrant boat from docking. He denies the allegations.
The meeting has also been met with criticism from figures within the Labour Party.
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, told the Guardian it was “disturbing” to see the Prime Minister seeking to “learn lessons from a neo-fascist government”.
Asked what his message would be to critics who are concerned to see a Labour Government taking inspiration from an administration linked to alleged human rights abuses, Starmer told reporters travelling with him on the trip: “Italy is an ally. It’s a G7 member, it’s a Nato ally.
“We share a long history, we’ve got strong bilateral relations … We’ve got a common challenge and I think the more we can collaborate and co-operate with our partners on a shared challenge, the better.”
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