The home secretary has claimed the Tories intended on spending £10 billion on the now-scrapped Rwanda deportation scheme.
In the Commons on Monday, Yvette Cooper said the full expense of the plan to send asylum seekers who arrive to the UK in small boats to Rwanda was not fully disclosed to parliament.
The policy, which Labour dropped when it got into power earlier this month, has already cost the British taxpayer £700m over the last two and a half years, according to Cooper.
In that time, only four volunteers were deported to the African country, she said.
Cooper continued: “Those costs include £290m payments to Rwanda, chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, and paying for more 1,000 civil servants to work on the scheme.
“A scheme which sent four people. It is the most shocking waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen.”
Cooper also said if the scheme had ever “got going” it would only cover a “minority” of arrivals and the taxpayer would still have to pay out “no matter how many people were relocated”.
The cabinet minister added: “Over the six years of the migration and economic development partnership forecast, the previous government had planned to spend over £10bn of taxpayers money on the scheme - they did not tell parliament that.”
Cooper dubbed it a “costly con” which has been paid for by the taxpayer.
Even before Labour were elected, the Rwanda scheme was blocked repeatedly with legal challenges which stopped any flights with forced deportations from ever getting off the ground.
The Conservatives ended up suggesting the UK leave the European Convention on Human Rights to prevent European judges blocking any flights.
But on Monday, new PM Keir Starmer said: “Let me be clear, there is no need to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.”
A “hear, hear” rang out around the chamber at that.
Starmer continued: “That is not consistent with the values with that blood bond, so we won’t withdraw – not now, not ever.
“Because, Mr Speaker, the basic fact of the priorities of the British people do require us to work across borders with our partners.
“And a government of service at home requires a government of strength abroad.
“That is our role, it’s always been our role – Britain belongs on the world stage.”