Rishi Sunak is to join forces with Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, as he tries to bolster support for his floundering Rwanda scheme.
The prime minister was pictured with Meloni during a “meeting and drink” as they discussed ways to “work together” on the “shared challenge of illegal immigration” in Europe.
Italy’s premier has defended Britain’s controversial deal with Rwanda which would see tens of thousands of migrants sent more than 6,000 miles away from the UK to be processed.
The £120 million scheme is believed to breach international human rights law, according to campaigners, and a number of legal challenges mean no removal flights have yet taken off to the east African country.
The government is awaiting the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing in which ministers challenged the validity of a Court of Appeal ruling that deemed the scheme unlawful.
Pressure continues to mount on Rishi Sunak to tackle the Channel crisis following the deaths of six people after a boat sank off the coast of France at the end of August.
Figures show close to 46,000 people arrived to the UK on small boats last year.
Campaigners described the incident as an “appalling and preventable tragedy”, while MPs called for action to stop criminal gangs profiting from the dangerous journeys.
Some 59 people were rescued by British and French coastguards on Saturday after an overloaded vessel carrying migrants got into difficulty near Sangatte.
It comes after the government was accused of allowing its “small boats week” of linked announced on immigration to descend into farce following the removal of dozens of asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge following the discovery of a potentially deadly strain of legionella onboard.
Talking to reporters at the G20 Summit in Delhi, Sunak hinted that the two leaders would use Italy’s turn at hosting the G7 next year to “bring people together to talk about the issue.”
He added: “Obviously it’s something that her and I have talked about a lot and we talked again about how we can work closer together, which we’re already doing.
“But again, what are the opportunities for us to do more together to tackle this shared challenge? She and I have a view together, both of us, that this is an important topic that needs us to work together.
“So that won’t be the last of these conversations that I have.”
Meloni tweeted that the meeting had been “a pleasant and useful opportunity for discussion”, including on the “fundamental issue” of migration “on which we are ready to intensify our bilateral cooperation”.
The leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party entered office within days of the prime minister in October year on the back of a pledge to block migrant boats in the Mediterranean.
The 45-year-old’s victory has raised fears in Europe which continues to grapple with the government of Viktor Orban in Hungary and the rise of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National in France.
Last year, she called for a naval blockade of Africa’s Mediterranean coast to stop migrants from crossing to Italy and has even alluded to a conspiracy theory pedalled largely by white nationalists that suggests global elites wish to substitute Europeans with immigrants.
Related: Government under fresh pressure to tackle Channel crossings after six deaths
