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The Labour leader was due to meet the French president at the Elysee Palace in Paris in an “introductory” meeting, as polls suggest he is heading for No10 next year.
Sir Keir has also said he would seek to renegotiate the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson which he has branded “far too thin,” changes which experts are warning may throw up difficult and divisive decisions again.
Ahead of the talks, shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq told Times Radio: “The Government has botched this deal entirely and has ramped up the divisive rhetoric with our closest trading partner.
“Why would they give us a second chance? But I think Keir, and the Labour Party, is trying.
“The main thing he wants to do in Paris is seek a new security agreement with Europe because in Government, if we do win the next election, he wants to talk aut how do we tackle people smuggling, how do we bring gang leaders to justice, it’s something that, we lost in the Brexit deal, that they are trying to negotiate at the moment, the Government is trying to negotiate.
“I’m hoping that Keir’s conversations today in Paris are a bit more optimistic and that if we are in Government, we can do something about the real-time data and intelligence sharing on suspects.”
Sir Keir and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves were meeting business leaders in the French capital before he heads to the Elysee to see the president.
The president and Labour leader were not expected to make any specific announcements or strike particular agreements in the talks.
But Health Secretary Steve Barclay slammed Sir Keir’s bid for a new Brexit pact, telling Sky News: “He said he would respect the Brexit deal, now he wants to re-open the Brexit deal.
“The position he is setting out once again is a flip-flop.”
The Macron meeting comes after Sir Keir spent last week meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.
That visit followed a trip to The Hague to hold talks with Europol officials on the challenge of tackling people-smuggling gangs profiting from small boat crossings in the Channel.
Rishi Sunak has already taken steps to rebuild relations with the EU, agreeing the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland trading arrangements, and with France in particular at an Anglo-French summit in Paris in March.
This followed Liz Truss, as she campaigned to become Prime Minister last year, saying the jury was out on whether Mr Macron was “friend or foe”.
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