Lee Anderson rips apart deluded Keir Starmer after latest Albania comment

Lee Anderson has shredded Sir Keir Starmer over the PM's attempt to send illegal migrants to Albania. The Reform UK MP took to X to savage the Labour leader, who earlier today told reporters he was in talks with a number of countries about "return hubs", before Albania's Prime Minister ruled out his country as a possible destination.

In a post on Instagram, Sir Keir wrote: "Working together with Albania, we will deter, detect, and return illegal migrants." Rubbishing the PM's remarks, Mr Anderson told X users to watch a clip of him grilling the Albanian ambassador over why illegal migrants from his country pay thousands of pounds to cross the Channel when they could pay less than £30 for a low-cost airfare.

During the exchange, the Albanian ambassador appeared unable to respond to Mr Anderson's questions. The Ashfield MP put forward the "theory" that some Albanian migrants cross the Channel on dinghys, rather than paying for a cheap flight to the UK, "because if they came legally... our border control [would] know exactly who these people are" and whether they had been involved in "illegal activities".

Reflecting on the clip, the MP said the ambassador's unwillingness to respond "never fails to astonish".

Earlier today, the Albanian Prime Minister appeared to snub Sir Keir's intimation that Albania could be used as a "return hub" for failed asylum seekers.

"I have been very clear since day one when we started this process with Italy that this was a one-off with Italy because of our very close relation but also because of the geographical situation, which makes a lot of sense," Edi Rama said.

"We have been asked by several countries if we are open to it and we said no because we are loyal to the marriage with Italy."