When trust in government to confront the challenges of today falters, our sense of shared belonging can begin to crack. As the prime ministers of two great European nations, we will not let this happen.

How we deal with irregular migration is at the heart of this, and we know that the response must match the scale of the challenge.

Communities must feel supported rather than strained. Asylum for people genuinely fleeing persecution will always remain the mark of decent, compassionate countries. But controlling who comes here is an essential task of government and is what the public rightly demands.

That’s why we are both taking practical action to fix the asylum system. Denmark has led the way here, with tough but fair reforms which have delivered results.

Last year, the number of people being granted asylum in Denmark was the lowest in 40 years, excluding the Covid year of 2020.

The UK has taken similar steps. After years of gimmicks and failed policies, we are going further than ever before with action at home – surging removals of those with no right to be here and making settlement reliant on integration and contribution, while pushing for coordinated international action too.

The........

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