Starmer reveals stance on handing powers over migration to Scottish Parliament

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer giving a speech during the Interpol General Assembly at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow | PA

Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed outright the devolving of powers over migration to Holyrood.

The Prime Minister, speaking on a visit to Glasgow, made clear that was not something his government was considering.

It comes despite the Prime Minister having expressed his desire to "reset" the relationship between the governments at Holyrood and Westminster after a difficult relationship developed between SNP ministers in Edinburgh and the previous Conservative government in London.

However, when asked if this "reset" would include considering devolving powers of immigration - something the Scottish Government has repeatedly called for - Sir Keir stated: "No, we're not looking at that."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer giving a speech during the Interpol General Assembly at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow | PA

His comments came as he spoke to journalists at the Interpol general assembly, where the Prime Minister had stressed the need for greater co-operation between governments internationally to crack down on people smuggling.

Sir Keir pledged that the UK government will "treat people smugglers like terrorists" as he announced a further £75 million for his border security command, doubling spending on this to a total of £150 million over the next two years.

But on immigration, Scottish Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has insisted that UK policies in this area are "actively harming" Scotland's economy.

Back in June, she called for Westminster to work with the Scottish Government to develop a "tailored migration system" to suit the specific issues facing Scotland's energy, agricultural and tourism industries.

Ms Forbes said then: "Migration is possibly the biggest challenge facing Scotland'seconomy right now - and it is unforgivable that every Westminster party is completely ignoringScotland's specific needs as they fight for right-wing voters in England.

"UK migration policies are actively harming Scotland's economic growth and prosperity and a tailored migration system suited to Scotland's specific circumstances is long overdue."

Sir Keir also suggested yesterday that EU leaders have shown an interest in giving the UK access to a key intelligence database used to identify asylum seekers.

He said there was an "appetite" among European partners to co-operate more closely on the issue of migration as he faced questions about whether Britain might regain use of Eurodac, which was lost after Brexit.

Eurodac stores the fingerprints of asylum seekers and migrants who have entered a European country, helping member states to examine asylum claims.

Asked during a huddle with journalists at the Interpol general assembly whether he could detect any enthusiasm from EU leaders about giving the UK access to Eurodac data as part of a new security deal, Sir Keir said: "Yes, there is an appetite to work more closely with us on this. Because look, these are shared challenges.

"They also do value what the UK has to offer. That has always been my strong view and it remains my strong view. They know that we've very good intelligence, very good capability. They value it in the same way we do."

Sir Keir said he was seeking to "improve on" the previous government's Brexit deal with "a joint agreement as to where arrests are going to take place, where prosecutions are going to take place, where evidence are gathered."

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "We're finding is that there is strong interest from other European governments in also working with us and making sure that we can look in much more detail at that intelligence sharing, that information sharing as well."

Sir Keir's £75 million pledge for the border command doubles the total funding to £150 million over the next two years. The additional £75 million is new from the Budget, the Home Secretary has confirmed.

The money will be used to fund high-tech surveillance equipment and 100 specialist investigators who will target criminals engaged in people smuggling.

The Prime Minister told the Interpol gathering: "People smuggling should be viewed as a global security threat similar to terrorism. We've got to combine resources, share intelligence and tactics, and tackle the problem upstream, working together to shut down the smuggling routes."

The government intends to legislate to give border security forces "enhanced" powers expected to involve expanding counter-terror tactics to deal with people smuggling.

Sir Keir said it was his "personal mission" as director of public prosecutions to "smash the terrorist gangs" and that as Prime Minister, "it is my personal mission to smash the people-smuggling gangs".

He said he wanted to stop people smuggling gangs before they act, as has been done with counter-terrorism operations.

"We're going to treat people smugglers like terrorists. So, we're taking our approach to counter-terrorism, which we know works, and applying it to the gangs."