Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is considered a moral outrage by the Labour Party, which couldn’t care less about the rights of its own citizens.

But perhaps they see sending them to Albania instead as a far more ethical option.

Keir Starmer considers this after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to learn how her government has succeeded in reducing the number of small boat arrivals over the past year, having struck a deal with Albania in particular.

Starmer said he was “interested” in seeing how Albania’s processing scheme, which has been developed by the Italian government, will work, writes Ross Clark in The Spectator.

Labour’s strategy of “smashing the gangs” is not working, and on Sunday several people died trying to arrive on the English coast in small boats across the English Channel.

Starmer has appointed a former police chief as the new head of border security, who will oversee his strategy for migrants in the Channel and deliver on his promise to “smash the gangs”. Downing Street said the appointment of Martin Hewitt, who led the UK’s enforcement of Covid laws as head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, marked “a new approach to securing our borders”.

This is according to The Times. So the tyranny we experienced during the pandemic can be used both in the pretence of meeting climate targets and in a clumsy attempt to stem the flood of migrants that is devastating England in particular, but also Ireland.

Why can’t the Labour government just cut absolutely all support for foreigners? By the way: A large proportion of boat migrants actually come from Albania, which is certainly not in a war situation but is actually a growing destination for European tourists. What’s the point of seeking help from Meloni?

Let’s ignore the left’s attitude towards Meloni: When Rishi Sunak established a relationship with her last year, she was a neo-fascist; now she suddenly seems to have upgraded herself to become a respectable national leader with plenty of ideas to offer our own enlightened, adult government.

But does anyone else sense a whiff of hypocrisy in Labour’s flip-flop on the principle of sending asylum seekers abroad for processing? Apparently, a white European country can be trusted to deal with migrants sent from the UK, but not an African one.

In 2021, Albania said no to a similar proposal from the Tory government. In the same year, the UK agreed with France to stop 100 per cent of migrants crossing the Channel. Since then, the number of migrants has gone from strength to strength.

Labour ministers might argue that the arrangement in Albania is different from that in Rwanda. They might say that in the former case, asylum seekers would have a chance to return to the UK if their applications are granted, while in the latter case they would have had to remain in Rwanda. But then Starmer and co miss the point: The UK doesn’t want to accept any more migrants, and few ordinary Britons would object if the migrants were sent to the South Pole.

In addition, according to asylum law, you are only a genuine refugee, fleeing for your life, if you seek safety in the first country you arrive in. Norway, or USA and UK, for example, has not received a single genuine refugee, with the exception of the quota refugees we pick up in their home countries. Just count the number of borders you have to cross between countries such as Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Meloni has managed to reduce the number of boat migrants by 62 per cent this year without attracting much attention. Starmer seems interested, however, and will also visit Italy’s National Coordination Centre for Migration to see for himself how the country has ensured a sharp decline in the number of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean.

At the same time, British prisons are filling up with people who disapprove of the slaughter of the three little girls in Southport.

A few weeks ago there were far too many people in prison; up to half of them shouldn’t be there, said the new prisons minister. Then came the riots, and suddenly the prison was just the place for thugs and petty criminals after all. Until a week ago, when the doors to the prisons were opened and hundreds of prisoners were released ahead of schedule.

Starmer has been accused in the past of changing his stance on important issues, but usually it has taken some time before he delivers contradictory opinions.

The British Prime Minister, who doesn’t have to buy clothes for his wife, now seems to have developed the ability to take opposing positions at the same time.</p

There’s a very simple rule that governs this: Any idea proposed by the Conservatives is bad and wrong; but the Labour-branded version is perfectly fine.

The Labour government, however, has one big advantage: The official opposition – that is, the Tory party – is unlikely to be against sending asylum seekers out of the country. But in his own Labour party, Starmer is likely to face the strongest opposition.

But with a majority of 170 votes, it’s unlikely to matter, provided Starmer actually means what he says this time. Personally, I have my doubts until we see results.