Ministers are “looking at a range of different issues” for cutting small boat crossings, the Home Secretary said as she declined to confirm reports the Government was considering a “one in, one out” policy for asylum seekers.

Asked whether the Government was looking at such a scheme with European nations, Yvette Cooper told Sky News: “We’ve been looking at a range of different issues, different ways of working – not just with France but with other European countries, other countries like Iraq, countries where we’ve seen these networks of criminal gangs operating.”

She added that the Government was “looking at different ways of doing returns”.

Ms Cooper also said she hoped France would change its own rules “as swiftly as possible” to allow French police officers to intervene in French waters.

She said: “We’ve seen these just appalling scenes of people just standing in the water, climbing into the boats, French police unable to do anything about it.

“So (that is) one of the things I’ve been working very closely with the French interior minister on, and he and I agree those French rules need to change.”

Zarah Sultana has “always taken a very different view” from the Government, the Home Secretary has said.

Responding to the former Labour MP’s announcement that she was co-founding a new party with Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper told Sky News: “I think she has always taken a very different view to most people in the Government on a lot of different things, and that’s for her to do so.”

Ms Cooper also rejected the Coventry South MP’s accusation that Labour was failing to improve people’s lives, saying: “I just strongly disagree with her.”

The Home Secretary pointed to falling waiting times in the NHS, the announcement of additional neighbourhood police officers, extending free school meals and strengthening renters’ rights as areas where the Government was acting.

She said: “These are real changes (that) have a real impact on people’s lives.”

Sir Keir Starmer said he has a good relationship with US President Donald Trump because they both “care about family”.

The Prime Minister told the BBC Radio 4 podcast Political Thinking With Nick Robinson it was “in the national interest” for the two men to connect.

He said: “We are different people and we’ve got different political backgrounds and leanings, but we do have a good relationship and that comes from a numbers of places.

“I think I do understand what anchors the president, what he really cares about.

“For both of us, we really care about family and there’s a point of connection there.”

Sir Keir said in the interview to mark a year in office he has a “good personal relationship” with Mr Trump,

A former Labour MP has said that she will set up a new party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Zarah Sultana – who had the Labour whip suspended last year – said she was resigning from Sir Keir Starmer’s party and would “co-lead the founding of a new party” with the ex-Labour leader.

In a statement posted on X, Ms Sultana, who represents Coventry South, said that the project would also involve “other independent MPs, campaigners and activists across the country”.

She said that “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper” and the “two-party system offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises”.

She added: “A year ago, I was suspended by the Labour Party for voting to abolish the two-child benefit cap and lift 400,000 children out of poverty.

“I’d do it again. I voted against scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners. I’d do it again. Now, the Government wants to make disabled people suffer; they just can’t decide how much.”

Ms Sultana also accused the Government of being an “active participant in genocide” in Gaza.

Referring to the next general election, Ms Sultana said: “In 2029 the choice will be stark: socialism or barbarism”.