Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer has begun a diplomatic offensive by participating in a Europol meeting and anticipating its willingness to seal a immigration agreement with the EU if he becomes prime minister. In the midst of the countdown to the general election in 2024, the Labor Party leads the Conservative Party by 18 points while Rishi Sunak has hit rock bottom in the polls: 67% of Britons have an “unfavorable” opinion of the “premier”, compared to 26% with a “positive” view.
Starmer has taken advantage of the favorable wind in the polls to project his image as a future “premier” with a first stop in Haguefollowed by a meeting in France with Emmanuel Macron and a jump to the other side of the Atlantic, with a possible visit to the president Joe Biden.
Its premiere at the conclave of Europol It has had a symbolic reach, since the United Kingdom lost its seat in the European security body after Brexit (although its representatives can attend to facilitate cooperation). The exit from the EU also meant the loss of access to databases which, in Starmer’s view, could be useful in combating illegal immigration into the UK.
His plans for collaboration with the EU have been interpreted by conservative media as an express desire to reverse Brexit and the policy of “regain control” of borders. Starmer himself, a supporter of him in his day of permanence, qualified his statements in The Hague before the ITV cameras…
“We have left the European Union. It is not about returning to the EU, nor about integrating into the single market or the customs union, nor about returning to freedom of movement. I have made clear what our parameters are.”