Keir Starmer has said that if he became prime minister he would seek a deal with the EU to return some new arrivals to mainland Europe while allowing others to enter Britain.
His comments triggered claims from senior Conservatives that he planned to oversee 100,000 extra arrivals, which the Labour leader dismissed in an interview broadcast on Sunday as "complete garbage".
Starmer told Sky News' Trevor Phillips: "We will not be part of [an EU quota system], we are not an EU member. This is why what the government is saying has been complete garbage."
Labour officials admit any migration deal with the EU would require the UK to accept some people coming the other way, but Pat McFadden, the party's elections coordinator, said yesterday that it did not want to sign up to any hard and fast quotas.
This story is from the September 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the September 18, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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