Sir Keir Starmer heads to Republic of Ireland for ‘reset’ in relations

Published

10 months ago

September 7, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer is visiting the Republic of Ireland as part of a “reset” of relations following the change of government.

The prime minister will meet with his Irish counterpart, Simon Harris, as part of the visit to Dublin.

At the same time, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn will be committing the UK government to a “new chapter” in UK-Ireland relations in a speech to the British-Irish Association Conference in Oxfordshire.

Northern Ireland‘s first minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly and the Republic of Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin will be present at the conference.

As part of his address, Mr Benn is set to acknowledge the “deep upset and anger” caused by the Conservative government’s controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which stopped new cases and inquests being opened into Troubles-era killings and tried to give suspects conditional amnesty.

Labour has promised to repeal the act, although Mr Benn wants to strengthen an independent truth-finding body set up by the legislation – saying it should be able to work alongside the police in the Republic of Ireland on legacy investigations.

He will say: “While achieving full consensus on legacy issues may simply not be possible, I ask everyone to acknowledge that this is a government with a new approach, and we need a spirit of compromise.”

Earlier this week, Northern Ireland veterans commissioner Danny Kinahan resigned – saying he could not “provide the independent voice that veterans require” after an “open and frank” conversation with Mr Benn.

The Northern Ireland secretary thanked Mr Kinahan for his work.

Mr Benn will also commit the UK to maintaining the implementation of the post-Brexit Windsor Framework, and tell Northern Irish politicians that further suspensions of the assembly there would be counterproductive.

Back in Dublin, trade will be top of the agenda for Sir Keir and Mr Harris – with €100bn (£84bn) of business done across the Irish Sea every year.

“Our relationship has never reached its full potential, but I want to change that,” Sir Keir said ahead of the visit.

“The [Irish prime minister] and I are in lockstep about our future, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration further.”

Mr Harris said the meeting in Dublin was “an important moment of reset in British-Irish relations”.

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As well as developing the trade relationship, Mr Harris said the pair will “also discuss, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, how to ensure that this moment of reset benefits the totality of relations across these islands today and into the future”.

In the evening, Sir Keir and Mr Harris will watch the football match between the Republic of Ireland and England.

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

9 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

Politics

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Published

11 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

Politics

Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

18 hours ago

July 10, 2025

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”