Is Keir Starmer ‘far right' now?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's new 'far right' mission to lock up asylum seekers in distant countries yesterday suffered an embarrassing setback on live television.
The former human rights supremo – who cancelled the Tory Rwanda scheme on day one in office – was in Tirana, less than one year later, to discuss setting up a similar scheme in Albania.
Or so the media were led to believe in press briefings beforehand: that it would be a main item on the agenda at his bilateral meeting with Albania's socialist Prime Minister Edi Rami.
But at their joint press conference, Rami soon put the kybosh on the idea by announcing most undiplomatically that such a deal would never happen.
In evident discomfort, Sir Keir did not respond to what Rami had said but spoke instead of talks he is having 'with a number of countries' about similar schemes.
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Scottish Sun
28 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Buoyant Sarwar pleads with PM to do more for Scots after by-election triumph
Scottish Labour leader Anas has urged Sir Keir to make the lives of Scots better to give him an 'easier' run into the 2026 Holyrood election. MUST DELIVER Buoyant Sarwar pleads with PM to do more for Scots after by-election triumph ANAS Sarwar has told Sir Keir Starmer he 'must do more' to help him convert the stunning Hamilton by-election win into kicking the SNP out of power. The Scottish Labour leader admitted the Prime Minister's rocky start to life in No10 had not been good enough on a number of fronts. 3 Anas Sarwar leader of Scottish Labour with by-election winner Davy Russell, right, and the party's deputy leader Jackie Baillie, left 3 Sir Keir Starmer And he urged Sir Keir to make the lives of Scots better to give him an 'easier' run into the 2026 Holyrood election. But Mr Sarwar — still 'buzzing' after Davy Russell's narrow victory in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse — insisted: 'Scotland is one step closer to changing the SNP government, from booting them from office and electing a Scottish Labour government. But we still have got hard work to do. "Keir Starmer knows what he has to do as Prime Minister to improve the lives of people here in Scotland and across the UK, and he knows he has to do more, and demonstrably more, over the course of the next year. 'I want a UK Labour government to deliver for people in Scotland, and the context of that, of course, makes conversations and makes campaigns easier. 'And they recognise that they have to do more to improve people's lives.' His comments come after Scottish Labour — relegated to third place by the bookies and political commentators before last Thursday's vote — surged to victory over the SNP and Reform UK. And in an exclusive interview with The Scottish Sun on Sunday, Mr Sarwar said: 'I want to earn the right to be in government, earn the right to be First Minister. 'I want to earn the right to change the direction of our country. And that's what I'm going to try hard to do.' Mr Sarwar had cut a despondent figure in recent months after seeing his party plummet in the polls after being neck-and-neck with the Nats last year. Recent surveys before the by-election confirmed a slump from a high of 37 per cent in the constituency vote to 19 per cent, and from 34 per cent in the regional list stats to 18 per cent. Anas Sarwar reacts to Labour's shock win and reveals why voters backed the party Meanwhile the SNP has barely shifted from 33 per cent and 28 per cent support in the respective measures. The dip came after Labour trounced the Nats in last July's General Election, returning 37 MPs to Westminster after previous near wipeouts in Scotland in 2015 and 2019. Mr Sarwar struggled to defend the UK Labour government's decisions, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves axing winter fuel payments for pensioners and raising employer National Insurance contributions — which experts say heightened discontent. But he was visibly energised from the by-election win when he spoke to us after his party secured 31.6 per cent of the Hamilton vote compared to the SNP's 29.4 per cent. Mr Sarwar — who has clashed publicly and privately with Sir Keir — admitted it had been a 'challenging number of months'. He added: 'We have to have a clearer demonstration from a UK Labour government that we are improving the lives of people here in Scotland. I make no bones about that. In fairness to Keir Starmer, he makes no bones about that too. He accepts that that has to happen.' But Mr Sarwar now feels able to turn his fire on First Minister John Swinney — and also have a pop at political pundits. He said: 'I've never felt that the underlying fundamentals have changed. I've always believed they were still good for us and very bad for the SNP. 'What was deeply frustrating, and actually the by-election has helped in this, is there was this overlaying theory amongst the political commentariat and pollsters that everything was framed around a UK Labour government. What John Swinney has tried to do over the course of the last ten or 11 months is he has very deliberately retreated from the real public debate, just withdrawn anything meaningful from the government, so they just go quiet and hope the public only focus on a UK Labour government and therefore he sneaks in through the back door. 'I think that's his entire strategy. But it's burst. It's done. He's not got it. The SNP's finished. 'The question now is what replaces them. 'And ultimately that's only the Scottish Labour Party.'
Scottish Sun
28 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Staggering cost Labour has spent chartering boats to rescue migrants in Channel in just eight months revealed
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NEARLY £4million has been spent under Sir Keir Starmer's government on chartering five privately owned boats to rescue migrants in the Channel over the last eight months. Border Force chiefs have used vessels from two private companies to patrol the English Channel and pick up migrants in dinghies making the treacherous journey from France to the UK. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Migrants in dinghies making the treacherous journey from France to the UK Credit: PA 2 Nearly £4million has been spent under Sir Keir Starmer's government on chartering five privately owned boats to rescue migrants Credit: Getty Aeolian Offshore and CWind provide the boats, which are normally used to carry maintenance and repair crew between offshore wind farms. Home Office figures show Aeolian has been paid £2,093,800 since July last year and Cwind £1,786,199 in the same period. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'The catamarans leased under these contracts are considered more suitable for the task of rescuing migrants from small boats, than the larger vessels in the Border Force maritime fleet. "As a result, our fleet of cutters and coastal-patrol vessels are free to concentrate on tackling the wider threats around the UK coast. "This includes preventing the smuggling of drugs and firearms into our country.' This week Reform and the Conservatives accused the Government of 'blaming the weather' for record numbers of crossings in the 12 months since April 2024. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'It is the border- security equivalent of a lazy student claiming 'the dog ate my homework'.' The Sun revealed yesterday that immigration was seen as the worst-handled issue under Labour. A staggering 74 per cent of Brits said the government was doing a bad job, with more than half – 52 per cent – said it's being handled very badly.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Abbott calls Starmer's immigration comments ‘fundamentally racist' at rally
Backbench Labour MP Diane Abbott has criticised Sir Keir Starmer's comments on immigration as 'fundamentally racist' at a protest rally, suggesting the Government was copying the rhetoric of Reform UK. Thousands of trade unionists, campaigners and activists gathered to 'send a message' to the Government at a demonstration over spending cuts and welfare reform in central London on Saturday. Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Ms Abbott were among those who gave speeches at the rally outside Downing Street following a march. Organisers The People's Assembly accused the Government of making spending cuts that target the poorest in society. The Prime Minister said the UK risked becoming 'an island of strangers' when he unveiled plans for tighter controls on immigration in a major speech last month, leading to a mixed reaction from different parties. Addressing the protest crowd in Whitehall, Ms Abbott – who was previously suspended by Labour in 2023 before being allowed to run in last year's general election – said there was an international struggle to 'fight the rich and the powerful (and) to fight the racists', including in her own party. The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said: 'I was very disturbed to hear Keir Starmer on the subject of immigration. 'He talked about closing the book on a squalid chapter for our politics – immigrants represent a squalid chapter. 'He talked about how he thought immigration has done incalculable damage to this green and pleasant land, which, of course, is nonsense – immigrants built this land. 'And, finally, he said we risk becoming an island of strangers. 'I thought that was a fundamentally racist thing to say. It is contrary to Britain's history. 'My parents came to this country in the 50s. They were not strangers. They helped to build this country. 'I think Keir Starmer is quite wrong to say that the way that you beat Reform is to copy Reform.' Reform's leader Nigel Farage previously said his party 'very much enjoyed' Sir Keir's speech, as it showed he was 'learning a great deal' from them. Representatives from the National Education Union, Revolutionary Communist Party, Green Party and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union could be seen at the demonstration's start point in Portland Place. The large crowd then set off towards Whitehall shortly before 1pm. Many of the protesters were holding placards that read 'Tax the rich, stop the cuts – welfare not warfare'. Other signs being held aloft said 'Nurses not nukes' and 'Cut war, not welfare'. Mr Corbyn, who also criticised Sir Keir's 'island of strangers' comments, told protesters at the rally: 'As the wars rage around the world – the killing fields in Ukraine and Russia, the abominable, deliberate starvation of children in Gaza and the genocide that's inflicted against the Palestinian people continues – surely to goodness we need a world of peace. 'We need a world of peace that will come through the vision of peace, the vision of disarmament and the vision of actually challenging the causes of war, which leads to the desperation and the refugee flows of today.' The Independent MP for Islington North urged protesters to 'go forward as a movement of hope, of what we can achieve together (and) the society we can build together'. The People's Assembly said trade unionists, health, disability, housing and welfare campaigners with community organisations came together for the protest under the slogan 'No to Austerity2.0'. A spokesperson said: 'The adherence to 'fiscal rules' traps us in a public service funding crisis, increasing poverty, worsening mental health and freezing public sector pay. 'Scrapping winter fuel payments, keeping the Tory two-child benefit cap, abandoning Waspi women, cutting £5 billion of welfare by limiting Pip and universal credit eligibility, and slashing UK foreign aid from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP, while increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, are presented as 'tough choices'. 'Real tough choices would be for a Labour government to tax the rich and their hidden wealth, to fund public services, fair pay, investment in communities and the NHS.'
