
UK PM Starmer seeks immigration lessons from Italy’s Meloni
Al Jazeera
Keir Starmer’s meeting with the far-right premier in Rome branded ‘disturbing’.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met with his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, in Rome to discuss ways of tackling irregular immigration.
Before the meeting on Monday, the United Kingdom’s premier said he wanted to “understand” the “dramatic reduction” in migrant arrival numbers in Italy. The visit with the far-right Italian leader has attracted criticism from members of Starmer’s left-leaning Labour Party.
Starmer also visited a national immigration coordination centre with Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi.
Since Labour won elections in July, Starmer has promised to fight illegal immigration despite rejecting the previous Conservative government’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda.
His meeting with Meloni, who heads the far-right anti-immigration Brothers of Italy party, has sparked criticism.