Starmer says no case for joining EU as he insists Brexit policy hasn’t changed

Labour leader defends stance – as Tories accuse him of ‘surrendering’ control of immigration

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that his Brexit policy has not changed as he defended his vow to seek a migrants returns deal with the EU.

Under fire from the Tories, the Labour leader is accused of “surrendering” control of immigration policy and letting the UK act as a “dumping ground” for Europe’s migrants.

But Mr Starmer described the Tory response as “nonsense” – insisting that he was “taking control of a situation the government has totally lost control of”.

The Labour leader said was prepared to do a deal which would involve the UK taking a quota of legal asylum seekers who arrive in the bloc, in exchange for the ability to return people crossing the English Channel.

“That would be part of any discussions and negotiations with Europe,” he told The Times. But Sir Keir would not be drawn on the number of legal asylum seekers he would be happy to take in under a deal.

As senior Tories pounced upon the development as handing power back to Brussels, Sir Keir said his stance at “making Brexit work” had not changed.

He said seeking closer co-operation with the EU on the migrants crisis did not mean a weakening of his stance on Brexit. “There is no return to freedom of movement. We have left the EU,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“There’s no case for going back to the EU – no case for going into the single market or customs union and no freedom of movement. I’ve been really clear that that’s the parameter.”

He added: “I do not accept that that prevents us working with other police units here, with prosecutors here, to smash the gangs in this vile trade.”

Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper arriving at Europol (PA Wire)

Cabinet minister Steve Barclay told LBC: “He wants to surrender control of our immigration to the EU and let them decide on the quotas … The number that we would then have to take in return will be much higher.”

Home secretary Suella Braverman claimed Sir Keir would “let Brussels decide who comes to the UK”, adding: “He’ll agree to make Britain the dumping ground for many of the millions of illegal migrants that Europe doesn’t want.”

Rishi Sunak even claimed Labour’s returns deal plans could see the UK accept 100,000 migrants from Europe every year. “His plans today seem to amount to saying that we might one day accept 100,000 EU migrants every year – that doesn’t seem like a credible plan.”

No 10 said the government was open to a returns deal with the EU – but would not accept a quota of migrants in exchange.

But Mr Starmer described the Tory response as “nonsense”. He told broadcasters: “I can only assume it’s because they’ve got nothing sensible to say on the issue,” the Labour leader said.

Sir Keir shared his plans for greater cooperation in data sharing between British and European security forces during his meeting with Europol chiefs at the organisations HQ in the Hague on Thursday.

He said people-smuggling should be treated “on a par” with terrorism, as he vowed to deepen intelligence ties with the EU as part of a new post-Brexit security pact.

Meanwhile, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said Sir Keir as “zero balls” as she compared him to “Beach Ken” from the Barbie movie. Sir Keir yesterday dubbed Mr Sunak “Inaction Man”.

Row comes as report finds post-Brexit investment slump (PA Archive)

It comes as a damning new report on the impact on Brexit found that a scheme to create public sector investment is putting two-thirds less into the UK that the country was receiving under the EU’s European Investment Bank.

The UK in a Changing Europe think tank found that the European Investment Bank (EIB) saw around an average of £6.4bn a year invested in the UK between 2009 and 2016 in real terms.

But the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), and other post-Brexit replacements set up by the Tory government, saw only £2.4bn invested in 2022 – around one-third as much as the EIB spent in Britain at its peak in 2016.

Labour’s shadow City minister, Tulip Siddiq, said: “The Tories’ failure to invest in British industry has left growth on the floor and our public services crumbling, with working people paying the price.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “The UK Infrastructure Bank was set up with £22bn financial capacity and is specifically designed to address net zero and levelling up, providing more targeted support than the EIB and is better aligned with the government’s objectives.”