They’re all in the Same Boat Now: Starmer Brings the Bluster Against Migrant Gangs

Starmer Parks His Tank in The Sun: Desperate Migration Posturing

Starmer, in an attempt to flex his political muscles, has boldly parked his tank right on the Tories’ front lawn. His latest desperate gambit to out-flank the Tories on migration comes right out of the New Labour playbook. More tough rhetoric, police crackdowns and promises to get migration “under control” – haven’t we heard this song before?

I’m sure all those Sun readers are thrilled to have Sir Keir as their newest convert as he penned a lengthy op-ed in the Murdoch Red Top and for afters, Starmer sat down for an interview with The Times, all the while promising to crack down on those nefarious people-smuggling gangs.

But of course, there’s always the other side of the coin: The Mail and The Telegraph wasted no time in unloading both barrels on Starmer for his grand plan to secure an EU-wide agreement to shuffle irregular migrants back to the continent. Both papers are quick to point out that, in a classic “quid pro quo” twist, this would entail accepting a portion of asylum seekers who land in Europe. Labour, ever the negotiator, insists that everything’s up for discussion.

In response, the Tories wasted no time seizing on Starmer’s plan to pursue an EU-wide returns agreement. A government source, the master of number crunching for The Mail, conjures up a vision of the U.K. being asked to take in a whopping 120,000 of the one million irregular migrants who landed in the EU last year.

This source cheekily quips to Jason Groves: “Finally, we get to see Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for illegal migration — he’ll make it legal.”

Now, let’s dissect this policy a bit: Starmer spilt the beans to The Times’ Steve Swinford, revealing his intention to ditch the Tory scheme of sending Channel migrants off to Rwanda. He also made lofty pledges to fast-track the processing of cases, clear out the backlog, and treat people traffickers like they’re the latest blockbuster villains, complete with “serious crime prevention orders” to freeze their assets and curtail their movements.

Labour officials are working overtime to remind us of Sir Keir Starmer’s storied history dealing with cross-border crime, back when he was the high sheriff of all England, sorry I meant (DDP) Director of Police Prosecutions.

And as for the grandiloquent rhetoric: Starmer assures Sun readers that, under a Labour government, those who make life miserable on British soil will face the full brunt of British force and British justice. He even throws in a promise to create a cross-border police unit to crack down on the evil people smugglers those social terrorists filling our shores with the undesirables!

Yes, he’ll show those foreign gangs not to mess with British justice. Expect plenty of action movie bravado about ruthless cross-border policing from the former Director of Public Prosecutions, maybe even a ride along with Starmer like a modern-day Sir Francis Drake pushing back an Armada of little boats.

But it’s all rather laughable posturing when his only actual policy is begging the even more useless EU for a “returns agreement” – you know, the same EU that’s failed abysmally to get a handle on migration for years now. I’m sure President Macron will hop right to it when Labour comes calling with yet another half a BILLION pound bung from the British taxpayers to beef up the French border guard!

And of course, the Tories are right to point out this would likely mean accepting many thousands more migrants on EU orders. But Starmer thinks a bit of public chest-thumping will distract Sun readers from that unappetising quid pro quo.

Begging Brussels: Labour’s Desperate EU Returns Gambit

But Brussels has never met a crisis it couldn’t make worse with smug moralizing and institutional paralysis. Just look at the ongoing Mediterranean fiasco – 27,000 dead since 2014, drowned and forgotten just statistics of failed migration policies with no solutions in sight. Now there’s the partner we need!

And if Starmer is looking for solutions on migration from the EU, perhaps he should examine the sordid revelations coming out of Brussels’ own border agency, Frontex.

A recent leaked report reveals Frontex officials have been complicit in Greece’s illegal pushbacks of migrants at sea – a violation of international laws and human rights. Numerous media outlets had already exposed Greece abandoning migrants in unsafe life rafts or inflatables. Yet Frontex management helped cover up this scandal.

The report raises questions about the European Commission too. It funnels millions in funding to Athens earmarked for proper migrant management, not hazardous pushbacks endangering lives.

Since 2020, an estimated 43,000 people, including children, were forcibly expelled from Greek waters with Frontex cooperation. Over 35,000 were abandoned at sea, left to drown, while Brussels turned a blind eye.

Some partner Sir Keir has picked! An EU border agency neck-deep in human rights abuses and deadly negligence. Perhaps Starmer should call out these hypocritical failings instead of begging for migration tips.

Frontex’s involvement shows the EU’s record on ethics and efficacy is abysmal. Stuffing cash into a broken system won’t fix deep flaws. Before demanding quid pro quo deals, Labour should condemn Brussels’ complicity and demand accountability.

Starmer claims superior virtue yet overlooks EU crimes against migrants. He turns the usual blind eye of Western leaders to abuses they find inconvenient. So much for ethics guiding policy. But we expect little else from Labour’s slick spinners whose words ring hollow.

Tough on Smugglers, but What About Root Causes?

Hers the kicker! Migrants will keep coming, no matter how many televised raids Sir Keir conducts. The West has made a hash of world affairs for decades – the resulting upheavals drive people to our shores out of desperation, not malice. Harsher enforcement without addressing root causes is an exercise in futility.

People trafficking is a crisis of morality, not suited to stiff bureaucratic remedies. But try telling our elite class who see all of life’s problems as solved through procedural tinkering, target setting and box ticking.

So Labour dusts off the old authoritarian playbook in a scramble for credibility on migration. But beneath the tough talk lies an empty party with nothing to offer but jobs for the border police and criminals for the courts. Some things never change.