Former home secretary James Cleverly has warned the Government does not have a “proper deterrent” to stop the boats.

The Tory leadership hopeful took aim at Sir Keir Starmer who visited Rome on Monday to meet Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.

Mr Cleverly said: “All we heard today from Starmer was more words in place of action. Meetings, press conferences, and roundtables won’t stop the people smugglers.

“They have finally appointed a border commander but the job itself remains a mystery. There is no detail on what powers they will have or when they will be introduced. Or how they will work with the existing Small Boats Operational Command. And there seems to be no further recruitment – the phantom border command has become a one-man border command.

“Though talk is cheap a new senior civil servant is less cheap. Neither will be enough to secure our borders. The Government still does not have a proper deterrent or somewhere to send failed asylum seekers we can’t send home. Without answers to either of these questions, vulnerable people will continue to die in the channel.”

Sir Keir signalled “great interest” in Italy’s migrant deal with Albania, Ms Meloni has said.

The UK Prime Minister insisted his Government would make a return to “British pragmatism”in a bid to tackle the small boats crisis.

He also suggested he wanted to focus on “upstream” issues in other countries which push migrants to leave their nations for Europe.

The Italian Prime Minister’s approach to border control has witnessed a 60% drop in arrivals by sea over the past year.

Her Government recently brokered a deal with Albania which will see illegal migrants who have entered Italy processed in the Balkan nation, a scheme which has been compared to the Rwanda plan Sir Keir’s Government scrapped.

She said the pair had discussed the Albanian deal yesterday (MON), adding: “The UK Government has shown great interest in this agreement.”

But Sir Keir suggested he was particularly interested in Ms Meloni’s work to tackle “upstream” issues with migration.

He said Italy’s reduction in unauthorised migrant numbers was “more likely attributable to the work that the prime minister (Ms Meloni) has done upstream”.

Sir Keir added: “I have always made the argument that preventing people leaving their country in the first place is far better than trying to deal with those that have arrived in any of our countries. I was very interested in that.

“In a sense, today was a return – if you like – to British pragmatism.”

Italy’s deal with Albania to process irregular migrants is “very, very different” to the scrapped Rwanda plan, Yvette Cooper has said.

The Home Secretary drew a distinction between Rome’s third country processing agreement with the Balkan nation and the now-scrapped plan floated by the Tories in office.

The Italian government has faced criticism from humanitarian groups about its deals with Albania, but Ms Meloni told reporters the accusations were “groundless”

She said: “I don’t know what human rights violations you’re referring to, to be totally frank.

“This accusation, I think it’s completely groundless.”

She added that migrants sent to Albania would be dealt with under Italian jurisdiction.

More than 22,000 people have arrived in the UK by small boats so far this year – including 9,000 since the general election in July.

More than 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel over the weekend alone as eight people died trying to make the journey.

Channel crossings continued the day after news of the deaths emerged, with the Home Office recording 1,093 arrivals in two days as the tragedy unfolded.

The UK’s Border Security Command will deliver cutting edge new technology, extra officers and further covert capabilities following an immediate cash injection, Ms Cooper has announced.

The package, worth up to £75million, redirects funds originally allocated to the previous Government’s Illegal Migration Act.

Ms Cooper said: “Criminal gangs are getting away with undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. The Border Security Command will deliver a major overhaul and upgrade in law enforcement against smugglers and trafficking gangs to boost our border security.

“State of the art technology and enhanced intelligence capabilities will ensure we are using every tool at our disposal to dismantle this vile trade.”