In full: Keir Starmer says Rwanda plan is a ‘gimmick’

Sir Keir Starmer will vow on Friday to use terror laws to tackle the small boats crisis, as part of plans to work more closely with Europe to combat people smugglers. The Labour leader will announce plans to scrap the Rwanda scheme and use the money to create a border security command with new powers to treat people smugglers like terrorists. He will use a speech in the Dover constituency of Natalie Elphicke, the Tory MP who defected to Labour on Wednesday, to argue for greater European cooperation on immigration and to try to counter Conservative claims that Labour has no plan to stop the boats. His proposals have been backed by Neil Basu, the former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner and the head of UK counter-terrorism policing from 2018 to 2021, who advised Labour on the plan. Read more here: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start you