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Keir Starmer is accused of wanting to make Britain a ‘dumping ground’ for EU’s unwanted migrants as he moots deal with Brussels to take MORE asylum seekers ahead of meeting Macron in Paris – with his ‘PM-in-waiting’ tour of Europe  overshadowed by row

Keir Starmer was accused of wanting to make Britain a ‘dumping ground’ for the EU’s unwanted migrants today as he launched a tour designed to show him as PM-in-waiting.

The Labour leader rolled the dice on the key election battleground as he visited The Hague – and the HQ of Europol, which the UK left due to Brexit.

But Sir Keir was accused of an ‘open door’ approach that could mean taking 100,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy as he suggested Britain could ‘burden share’ with the bloc.

In a round of interviews, he insisted that the plan would help stop the Channel boats, saying he wanted to treat people smugglers like terrorists.

However, Germany has backed out of an EU resettlement scheme – raising questions about whether the idea is even plausible. 

The trip comes ahead of a visit to Paris next week, where Sir Keir will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron – defying normal diplomatic protocol. He is expected to see the French president shortly before King Charles makes his long-awaited first state visit.

Sir Keir is also expected to meet Justin Trudeau on a trip to Canada for a centre-left political summit next week.

Keir Starmer rolled the dice on the key election battleground of immigration as he visited The Hague (pictured with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper) - and the HQ of Europol, which the UK left due to Brexit

Keir Starmer rolled the dice on the key election battleground of immigration as he visited The Hague (pictured with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper) – and the HQ of Europol, which the UK left due to Brexit

Sir Keir is trying to outflank the Tories on the critical issue of immigration

Sir Keir is trying to outflank the Tories on the critical issue of immigration 

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Sir Keir would make Britain the 'dumping ground' for the EU's unwanted migrants

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Sir Keir would make Britain the ‘dumping ground’ for the EU’s unwanted migrants

The trip comes ahead of a visit to Paris next week, where he will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron - defying normal diplomatic protocol

The trip comes ahead of a visit to Paris next week, where he will hold talks with Emmanuel Macron – defying normal diplomatic protocol

Labour is promising to ‘smash’ the criminal gangs responsible for smuggling thousands of migrants across the Channel.

The party wants a deal with the EU that could allow the UK to return some migrants who are deemed to have no claim here.

But in return, Sir Keir is willing to open negotiations about joining an EU ‘burden sharing’ system designed to relocate hundreds of thousands of migrants who land in Greece, Italy and other countries.

The controversial move could see the UK obliged to find homes for thousands of migrants who cross the Mediterranean in search of a new life in Europe.

Sir Keir declined to be drawn on how many people could be involved. 

But the government said that if the system was calculated on a population basis, the UK could have been asked to take more than 100,000 of the one million migrants who landed in the EU last year.

Mr Sunak told reporters during a visit to Devon: ‘Keir Starmer spent all of this year voting against our stop-the-boats Bill, the toughest legislation that any government has passed to tackle illegal migration.

‘I think he spent most of last year voting against a previous Bill which has since then led to almost 700 arrests related to organised immigration crime, so I don’t think it’s credible that he really wants to grip this problem.

‘And 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 to me to stop the boats.’

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: ‘Finally we see Sir Keir Starmer’s migration plan. He’ll let Brussels decide who comes to the UK. 

‘He’ll agree to make Britain the dumping ground for many of the millions of illegal migrants that Europe doesn’t want. And none of this will stop the boats.’ 

Sir Keir described the criticism as ‘nonsense’ and told ITV’s Good Morning Britain his main aim was ensuring that people did not make it across the English Channel in the first place.

‘The first stage is how do you work with police forces across countries to ensure that you stop people getting into the boats in the first place, and smash this vile trade.

‘And that is about working here in Europol, working across Europe, to ensure that the criminals are brought down, that they are treated in the same way that we treat terrorists. So that’s stage one.

‘The question of whether people can then be returned only applies if people are still getting across the channel and what I want to do is to stop this trade, stop this vile business in the first place.’

Sir Keir scrambled to quell concerns that he was intending to reverse Brexit entirely.

‘There is no return to freedom of movement. We have left the EU,’ he said.

‘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.

‘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.’

Channel migrants are brought ashore by the RNLI in Dover, Kent

Channel migrants are brought ashore by the RNLI in Dover, Kent  

Sir Keir and Ms Cooper preparing for their meetings in The Hague today

Sir Keir and Ms Cooper preparing for their meetings in The Hague today

The controversial ‘burden sharing’ scheme was set up to relieve pressure on Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, where most migrants heading for the EU first arrive.

But it has met fierce resistance from some countries, particularly in eastern Europe. Several EU countries, including Poland, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Latvia and Slovakia, have resisted efforts by Brussels to make them take more migrants arriving elsewhere in the EU.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: ‘The truth is Labour are totally unprepared to make the tough, but necessary decisions to stop the boats. 

‘Their plan is to take 100,000+ migrants from the safety of the EU and (fingers crossed) this stops others. They treat the valid concerns of the British public with utter disdain.’

A Tory source said: ‘Finally, we get to see Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for illegal migration – he’ll make it legal. 

‘He’ll ignore the will of the British people to cut numbers, and instead cut a deal with the EU that would commit us to taking our ‘fair share’ of however many illegal migrants enter Europe each year.

‘That number was nearly one million people last year and is projected to rise this year.

‘No wonder Starmer has tried to keep his plan a secret from the public – it’s open borders by the back door.’

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