Keir Starmer seals intelligence-sharing deals in fight against small boat smugglers

The UK has reached intelligence-sharing deals with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo which it says volition assistance way down and apprehension radical smugglers successful the Balkans

The UK has reached caller intelligence-sharing deals with 3 Balkan countries that tens of thousands of asylum seekers question done each year.

Keir Starmer says the agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo volition assistance the conflict against smuggling gangs fuelling tiny vessel crossings. He volition conscionable European leaders successful Hungary and telephone for greater co-operation to woody with the crisis.

It comes aft helium complained this week that Boris Johnson's botched Brexit woody means the UK is incapable to instrumentality the pb successful operations targeting radical smugglers. Mr Starmer said: “There is simply a transgression empire operating connected our continent, exacting a horrendous quality toll and undermining our nationalist security.

“Backed by our caller Border Security Command, the UK volition beryllium astatine the bosom of the efforts to extremity the scourge of organised migration transgression – but we cannot bash it successful isolation."

The PM volition seat a gathering astir migration astatine the European Political Community gathering successful Hungary calling connected leaders to find caller ways to trim irregular migration crossed the continent. Almost 100,000 migrants passed done the Western Balkans past twelvemonth - making it a cardinal way for those trying to scope Europe and the UK.

The Government said the caller agreements volition amended quality sharing, expertise and co-operation successful bid to intercept and apprehension the gangs.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: " “Our enactment with our partners successful the Western Balkans is perfectly cardinal to dismantling the transgression networks that orchestrate the exploitation of susceptible radical for fiscal gain.

“Working much intimately with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo, we volition stock accusation and intelligence, and enactment crossed borders to representation retired what is happening and where, to interruption the concern models of these unscrupulous gangs astatine source. Through our intensified work, criminals volition soon realise they person obscurity to hide.”

The PM volition accidental that each European nations carnivore a work to ace down connected radical smugglers. It comes aft helium pleaded with world leaders for assistance with the "war" connected radical trafficking.

On Monday Mr Starmer told reporters astatine the Interpol wide assembly successful Glasgow that helium volition question a caller information pact with Europe. He said helium hopes to amended the UK's Brexit agreement, telling The Mirror : "I bash deliberation erstwhile it comes to security, we tin bash amended than the woody we've got and that's what we're pursuing. I don't deliberation the woody we got was a peculiarly bully one.

"I don't deliberation we did arsenic good arsenic we should person done erstwhile we came to the question of transverse borderline transgression and security, and that's wherefore we privation to amended connected it."