Starmer and Meloni plot overhaul of Europe-wide police force to tackle illegal migration

Anglo-Italian plan for Europol to prioritise the targeting of people smugglers

Sir Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni are planning to make the EU police force focus on tackling illegal migration, The Telegraph can reveal.
Europol officers currently work on everything from terrorism to drug trafficking, but the two leaders want the agency to prioritise targeting people smugglers.
Ms Meloni, the Italian prime minister, has proposed either a wholesale reorganisation of Europol to focus on illegal migration or for it to be given a special mission on the issue.
Sir Keir is understood to have expressed support for the proposal when the pair met last month and floated the idea of officers from the UK and Europol conducting joint operations.
The plan offers an indication of what the Government plans to do about immigration in the wake of the riots.
On Sunday, 703 migrants crossed the Channel – the highest number on any day since Sir Keir entered No 10 on July 5.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted there was no link between the figures and the Government’s cancellation of the Rwanda deportation scheme. But they admitted that the public should brace for an “increase” in the number of people arriving in small boats this summer.
Downing Street said Sir Keir had no plans to give a speech addressing immigration and warned against conflating legitimate concerns about immigration and the act of rioting.
The spokesman said: “The Prime Minister spoke last week to agree that there are legitimate concerns about immigration, and that’s why we’re taking the action that we are to tackle the gangs responsible for those.
“But again, it’s really important not to conflate these issues and provide legitimacy to people when there is absolutely no excuse or world where that could be described as legitimate protest.”
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister who is running for the Tory leadership, will use a speech on Tuesday to call for a national conversation about the causes of the riots.
He will say politicians and the authorities must no longer “obfuscate about the identities and motives of the perpetrators” of extreme violence.
Ms Meloni struck up a close working relationship with Rishi Sunak, Mr Starmer’s predecessor. As prime minister, Mr Sunak and Ms Meloni attempted to push the need for a tougher, joint stance on migration among European leaders.
Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, visited Europol, which is based in The Hague, last September for talks on tackling the gangs behind people smuggling. Britain is no longer a member of the agency, having left the EU, but does work in partnership with it.
Ms Cooper has already announced a 50 per cent increase in the number of officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency that would be seconded to Europol. She also talked to Catherine De Bolle, the executive director of Europol, shortly after entering the Home Office, in a sign of the importance being placed on working with Europol.
Sir Keir is seeking to “reset” the UK’s wider relationship with the EU, and any agreement on a new mandate for Europol is likely to need the support of a majority of EU member states.
Europol, which has more than 1,400 staff, cannot instigate investigations but instead supports those launched by EU member states. It also cannot arrest EU citizens.
Since Britain left the EU, there has been a debate about how much Europol data the UK should be able to access.
A spokesman for the Home Secretary said: “Criminal gangs are undermining our border security and putting lives at risk as we saw in the Channel again tragically this week.
“An entire criminal industry has been allowed to take hold both along our border and through sophisticated criminal networks across Europe and beyond. It is appalling that for so long they have just been able to get away with it.
“We are determined to launch major new operations to pursue the gangs, the boats and the money.”
The spokesman added: “Our Border Security Command will coordinate efforts across our intelligence agencies, Immigration and Enforcement and Border Force, police and National Crime Agency to boost our border security, with new powers in place and we are already increasing our work with Europol to plan new operations across the continent.
“The Conservative government failed to ever have a comprehensive plan to go after the gangs and they’ve been getting away with it for too long. That changes now.”
An Italian government source told The Telegraph the conversation “dealt with ways to further increase Europol’s effectiveness in combating human trafficking” including “strengthening cooperation with third countries” such as the UK.