Exclusive: This has led to a wave of fury, with critics already condemning the tiny number of removals under the scheme.
Labour is trying to end the Channel migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
Labour’s “absurd political posturing” on the migrant deal with France hindered other efforts to control the border, it has emerged. Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Tuckett, said the one-in-one-out agreement “limited Immigration Enforcement activities”. This has led to a wave of fury, with critics already condemning the tiny number of removals under the scheme.
A Sunday Express investigation previously revealed that Labour’s disastrous one-in-one-out deal contributed to a shortage of immigration detention bed spaces.
Border Force insiders warned this led to more foreign criminals being released into the community on immigration bail, leaving families “less safe”. This, they warned, included killers and rapists. The Home Office strenuously disputed this, stating that decisions on bailing foreign offenders are not based on detention space.
But, in a fresh twist, the borders watchdog confirmed that the deal with Paris had such a high priority level within the department that it “limited Immigration Enforcement activities”. This effectively means immigration chiefs were unable to detain as many foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders and they were bailed instead.
Crucially, the Home Office faced greater delays deporting migrants earmarked for Operation Hillmore, the formal name for Labour’s deal with France, as migrants lodged legal challenges and Paris refused to provide key details to their counterparts in the UK.
Mr Tuckett said: “Operation Hillmore was consistently treated as having the highest operational priority across the Home Office; this had an impact on other parts of the migration and borders system, most notably where the need for detention spaces to hold individuals identified for the out route limited Immigration Enforcement activities.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Sunday Express: “Labour’s failed one-in-one-out scheme made no difference to illegal Channel crossings.
“With just 3% of arrivals removed, letting 97% stay was never going to make any difference.
“Now we learn that this failed scheme actually took up valuable spaces in Immigration Removals centres that could have been used to permanently deport foreign criminals or illegal immigrants.
“Labour’s absurd posturing actually caused damage. Shabana Mahmood has created borders chaos.”
Andy Burnham is facing a dire migrant warning (Image: Getty)
Former Immigration Minister Kevin Foster told the Sunday Express: “Serious criminals due for deportation are among the most dangerous people our immigration system handles.
“It is shocking to hear convicted killers were allowed to walk out of detention so Labour could pursue the farce that became their tens of thousands in and a few out deal with France.”
A scathing report by the Independent Monitoring Boards inspectors – who monitor conditions in custody suites – warned migrants earmarked for removal to France are being held for longer than other cohorts.
They told Border Security Minister Anna Turley: “Explanations provided by the Home Office suggest that a sizeable number of people are being kept in detention for operational convenience, in order for there to be enough individuals readily available for return to France: on a weekly basis they ‘need to have 150 coming into detention to manage attrition and legal challenge’ by making sure there are ‘sufficient people in detention’ for the UK – France Agreement.”
Mr Tuckett revealed in a report published this week: “The priority given to the pilot shaped operational activity across multiple teams with significant impacts on wider business as usual activity. Immigration Enforcement (IE) detention and escorting teams reported increasing pressure on bedspace and removals capacity. In some locations, reduced detention space led IE teams to redirect resources towards stakeholder engagement.”
And the Home Office failed to consider the impact of the scheme on the Immigration Detention estate. Mr Tuckett said: “Arguably, given the known dependencies of the pilot on shared detention space, Immigration Compliance and Enforcement resource, and case working capacity, the scale of those impacts could have been anticipated.” The inspector partly blamed the French for the chaos.
The Daily Express this week detailed how Paris refused to take back half of the migrants Britain wanted to boot out under Keir Starmer’s one-in-one-out deal.
Paris hid behind data protection diktats to avoid handing immigration officials their reasons for refusals. And this led to the Home Office wasting time on cohorts who would eventually be rejected, according to the borders watchdog.
Mr Tuckett said: “The criteria used by France in accepting or rejecting candidates for the OUT route had a significant impact on the numbers that could be removed to France.
“Greater efficiencies, particularly in the use of detention spaces, could have been achieved with more transparency over the selection criteria.”
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, said: “Not only did the government’s one in, one deal with France fail to stop the boats, but it meant that foreign national offenders were being put back into British communities rather than being detained pending deportation.
“This is a clear example of when political posturing and gimmicks have a direct impact on public safety.
“We need urgent investment in our immigration detention estate, and far swifter removal of all that are detained.”
Some 1,631 migrants were returned under the scheme, while Britain accepted 1,496
And the latest Home Office figures show 2,152 people – including failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals – were in removal centres and detained in prison under immigration powers on June 30, the latest figure available. This is the highest number since 2019, but down dramatically from the 3,462 in 2014.