Sir Keir Starmer’s Organised Immigration Crime Summit that took place in London over the past two days may turn out to be little more than a talking shop and do little to solve the increasingly hot political potato of the small boats crossing the English Channel. For all that the overt display of real and meaningful international cooperation in tackling the criminal exploitation of people marks a significant departure from the isolationist and failed policies of recent years, it should definitely be welcomed.

For too long and certainly since the fall of Libya, Syria and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the UK has looked at immigration as a mainland Europe problem. Within Europe also, too many nations looked at mass migration as a Greek, Italian and Spanish problem. The complex relationship between those genuinely fleeing persecution and war, and the opportunity for vast criminal enterprises to exploit mass movements of people were simply not a concern for those who did not live in countries on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, until of course it was.

Supporters of migration point to human suffering and the legal right to seek asylum; critics argue that insecure borders meant we no longer know who is coming into the continent of Europe making us all less safe as a result. Both are obviously right but the intransigence in recognising the concerns of opponents led to a policy quagmire that failed to adequately respond to either.

Sir Keir Starmer hosted a summit on uncontrolled migration (Image:........

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