Sunak warns migrants could ‘overwhelm’ countries in Rome speech

Changes to global refugee rules could be needed to tackle illegal migration, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said, as he warned of the threat of migrants to “overwhelm” European countries.

At a gathering of Italian conservatives and right-wingers in Rome, Mr Sunak offered a stark warning about illegal migration and the need for radical solutions to tackle the issue.

Mr Sunak said “enemies” want to use migration as a “weapon”, “deliberately driving people to our shores to try to destabilise our society”.

“If we do not tackle this problem, the numbers will only grow. It will overwhelm our countries and our capacity to help those who actually need our help the most.

If we do not tackle this problem, the numbers will only grow. It will overwhelm our countries

“If that requires us to update our laws and lead an international conversation to amend the post-war frameworks around asylum, then we must do that.

“Because if we don’t fix this problem now, the boats will keep coming and more lives will be lost at sea.”

The rhetoric comes as hardliners on the Tory right push Mr Sunak to block interference from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Refugee Convention amid efforts to stop Channel crossings.

He had warm praise for Italian prime minster Giorgia Meloni, at whose Brothers of Italy annual Atreju event he was speaking.

Ms Meloni is another prime minister who has sought to lead tough action on migrants arriving across the Mediterranean, and the two leaders have developed a close partnership in recent months.

While in Rome on the one-day trip, Mr Sunak also met Ms Meloni and Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama for talks on illegal migration.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk was among those at the Atreju event, which has been attended by former Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in the past.

Mr Sunak and Ms Meloni embraced as Mr Sunak prime minister left the stage, to loud applause from the audience.

Touching on their shared admiration of long-serving Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, he said “I can only guess what first attracted Giorgia to the strong female leader who was prepared to challenge the consensus, take on stale thinking and revive her country both domestically and on the international stage.”

He said that Baroness Thatcher’s “radicalism and drive” had to be applied to the issue of illegal migration, as he warned: “It is a fundamental tenet of sovereignty that it is us who should decide who comes to our countries and not criminal gangs.

“If we cannot deliver on that, our voters will lose patience with us and the way in which their countries are run and rightly so.”

He stressed the need for schemes like the Rwanda plan, which dominated the agenda at Westminster this week as Mr Sunak sought to win a crunch vote on the legislation.

Some 292 people made the crossing in seven boats on Friday, according to Home Office figures published on Saturday.

It was confirmed a migrant died and another was left in a critical condition during an incident on Friday.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said it was “not too late” for the prime minister to change direction.

He said: “After a week in which the Prime Minister has failed to convince many of his own backbenchers that he has a workable plan to end dangerous boat crossings, we hit a new grim milestone – far from stopping the boats, on Rishi Sunak’s watch this year 600 boats have crossed.

“It’s not too late to change direction.

“At the political summit he’s attending today in Italy, the Prime Minister should commit to stop wasting time on the Rwanda gimmick and adopt Labour’s plan to invest in a cross-border policing unit to crack down on the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in the channel, put stronger powers in place and get a new security agreement including working with Europol so that we can tackle the problem at source.”

The trip to Rome comes as Mr Sunak has sought to win support from European allies to help crack down on illegal migration, with Albania and Italy seen as among the key partners.