Bumbling Bridget Phillipson in denial after Keir Starmer mocked over Albania trip

Education Secretary was left floundering when she was asked live on-air whether Keir Starmer should be embarrassed by Albania's refusal to house failed UK asylum seekers. The Prime Minister was on a trip to the Balkan state this week when his counterpart Edi Rama publicly ruled out hosting so called "return hubs" - leaving many with the impression that Sir Keir's plan to woo the leader had gone badly wrong.

When asked whether she thought the rebuttal was "a bit embarrassing" on Nick Ferrari's LBC show, Ms Phillipson insisted that Albania had never been among the countries shortlisted by Labour for processing sites, and said the visit had been pre-planned for other reasons.

She said: "There was never any intention to seek a return hub with Albania. We know that they have got an exclusive arrangement with Italy. He was due to be there already to have conversations with Albania about how we tackle organised crime - they're a key partner in doing this. He's also there ... for the European Political Community meeting."

"We are in discussion with a number of [other] countries around return hubs," the Education Secretary added.

Mr Rama told journalists at a press conference that he had been "asked by several countries" if Albania would be open to a "return hub" scheme, but had turned them down out of loyalty to his country's migrant scheme with Italy.

His public response to speculation that UK asylum seekers could be shipped to the southern European state came just hours after Mr Starmer announced that the government had begun talks with unnamed countries about housing migrants while they await deportation.

Downing Street also confirmed that Albania had not been on the list of countries under consideration, adding that the topic was "never planned as part of discussions" with the Albanian leader.

The UK Prime Minister's spokesperson said the "return hub" scheme would apply to asylum seekers "who have exhausted all legal routes to remain in the UK but are attempting to stall, using various tactics".

Labour said the new measures differed from the Conservatives' Rwanda policy because it would apply to people who had already lost their appeals, rather than new arrivals.