'It's nonsense': Former Home Secretary James Cleverly accuses Yvette Cooper of 'making up' £700m Rwanda figure

23 July 2024, 09:31 | Updated: 23 July 2024, 09:46

Ex-home sec James Cleverley has branded Yvette Cooper&squot;s £700m figure as "nonsense"
Ex-home sec James Cleverley has branded Yvette Cooper's £700m figure as "nonsense". Picture: LBC

By Flaminia Luck

Former Home Secretary James Cleverly has accused Yvette Cooper of "making up" the cost of the previous government's flagship Rwanda scheme.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Mr Cleverly blasted the new Home Secretary and described the £700million figure she quoted as "nonsense" on LBC's Nick Ferrari on Tuesday morning.

The now shadow Home Secretary told Nick he knows “all the figures” due to his previous role in the cabinet.

“My advice to her is if she’s going to start a career of plucking figures out of the air, don’t go for nice round numbers, it makes it very obvious you’ve made them up”.

He added the real number was "just shy of £300m."

He added there was never any plan to spend the total £10bn like Ms Cooper claimed.

He also described the way Labour had ended the bilateral agreement with the Rwandan government as "disgusting".

He said the way they'd announced it to the media the day after the election was a "diplomatic discourtesy of the grossest order".

Ms Cooper previously revealed the staggering amount that was spent on the failed scheme which saw just four migrants sent voluntarily to the African country.

She told the Commons the huge cost the “most shocking waste of taxpayer money I have ever seen”.

James Cleverly speaks to Nick Ferrari | Watch again

Ms Cooper told MPs: “I have been shocked by what I have found”.

"Two years after the previous Government launched it, I can report it has already cost the British taxpayer £700million, in order to send just four volunteers [to Rwanda], she told MPs.

"Those costs include £290million payments to Rwanda, chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, and paying for more than a thousand civil servants to work on the scheme.

"A scheme to send four people, it is the most shocking waste of taxpayers' money I have ever seen. Looking forward, the costs are set to get worse.

“Even if the scheme had ever got going it's clear it would only cover a minority of arrivals, yet a substantial portion of future costs were fixed costs."

Ms Cooper accused the previous Conservative government of creating an "asylum Hotel California" in which people arrived in the system but never leave.

Yvette Cooper telling MPs the details of the scrapped Rwanda scheme
Yvette Cooper telling MPs the details of the scrapped Rwanda scheme. Picture: social media

Read More: Beauty salons and car washes to be targeted in illegal immigration blitz as Home Secretary redeploys Rwanda scheme staff

Read More: Four migrants die attempting to cross English Channel

The Home Secretary raised concerns over "legal contradictions" in the Illegal Migration Act and said "no decision" can be taken on an individual's case if they arrived in the UK after March 2023 and meet key conditions in the legislation.

She said: "They just stay in the asylum system. Even if they've come here unlawfully for economic reasons and should be returned to their home country, they won't be because the law doesn't work.

"Only a small minority might ever have been sent to Rwanda and everyone else stays indefinitely in taxpayer-funded accommodation and support. Now the Home Office estimates that around 40 per cent of asylum cases since March 2023 should be covered by these Illegal Migration Act conditions, the remaining 60 per cent under the previous government's policy should still have been processed and cleared in the normal way.

"However, even though previous ministers introduced this new law 12 months ago they didn't ever introduce an effective operational way for the Home Office to distinguish between the cases covered by the Illegal Migration Act and the other cases where decisions should continue between the 40 per cent and the 60 per cent - as a result decisions can't be taken on any of them."

Ms Cooper said she had been "shocked to discover that the Home Office has effectively stopped making the majority of asylum decisions", adding: "It is the most extraordinary policy that I've ever seen. We have inherited asylum Hotel California - people arrive in the asylum system and they never leave. The previous government's policy was effectively an amnesty and that is the wrong thing to do."

Nearly 1,500 migrants have arrived in the UK across in the English Channel in the last week, figures show.

Some 114 people arrived on Sunday in two boats, according to latest Home Office data, bringing the provisional total for the year so far to 15,831.

This is nine per cent higher than the number recorded this time last year (14,534).

Ms Cooper later outlined Labour's plans to curb illegal migration.

She said: "People in the UK want to see strong border security, with a properly controlled and managed asylum system where our country does its bit alongside others to help those who have fled persecution, but where rules are properly respected and enforced, so those with no right to be here are swiftly removed.

"We will invest money saved from the Rwanda Partnership into a new Border Security Command instead. It will bring together the work of Border Force, the NCA, the Small Boats Operational Command, intelligence and security officers.

"We are immediately increasing UK officers’ involvement in Europol and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre. And we are immediately re-deploying Home Office staff away from the Rwanda Partnership into returns and enforcement to reverse the collapse in removals that has taken place since 2010. 

"We need a properly run system where the rules are respected and enforced, and where we cut the costs for the taxpayer.

"It will take time to clear the asylum backlog and bring costs down and to get new enforcement in place to strengthen our borders and prevent dangerous boat crossings. But there is no alternative to serious hard graft to sort the chaos.

Migrants heading to Britain. Home Secretary Yvette cooper today revealed the scheme cost £700m and saw only four volunteers sent to Africa
Migrants heading to Britain. Home Secretary Yvette cooper today revealed the scheme cost £700m and saw only four volunteers sent to Africa. Picture: alamy

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

People are running away as smoke and dust rise from the Israeli army's attacks on buildings evacuated by displaced Palestinians in the western Gaza Strip on May 23

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 79 people with death toll expected to rise

Arsenal WFC v FC Barcelona - UEFA Women's Champions League Final

Arsenal win Women's Champions League for first time in 18 years with victory over Barcelona

Hundreds of prisoners of war have been swapped over the two day exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war return home on second day of swap with Russia

Davina McCall has opened up about her health struggles

Davina McCall breaks silence on ‘horrible’ memory loss after brain surgery

Prime Minister Keir Starmer Hosts UK-EU Summit In London

British fishing boat named after Thatcher held in French custody days after Starmer’s EU fish deal

Sunderland players celebrate promotion

Sunderland promoted to Premier League after beating Sheffield United 2-1 in Championship play-off final

Man competing in Jim Clark rally in the Scottish Borders dies following crash

Man competing in Jim Clark rally in the Scottish Borders dies following crash

Boris and Carrie Johnson have welcomed their fourth child

Boris Johnson welcomes fourth baby with wife Carrie as they celebrate 'final gang member'

A child with special needs getting extra support in school.

Hundreds of thousands of children with special needs in England face losing right to extra school support

Undated family handout photo issued by South Wales Police of 16-year-old, Taha Soomro of Grangetown, Cardiff, who died from a medical episode at Barry Island Pleasure Park

Boy, 15, arrested on suspicion of assault after 16-year-old dies at Barry Island theme park

Red carpet at the Palais des Festivals during the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 24, 2025.

Cannes Film Festival struck by major power outage weeks after blackouts sparked chaos in Spain and southern France

Victims of the infected blood scandal have been "left in the dark" about when they will receive compensation a year after a sweeping inquiry report was published, Andy Burnham has said.

Victims of infected blood scandal ‘left in the dark’ about compensation, Andy Burnham says

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident in Stoke Poges on Thursday evening.

Three arrested as police officer fighting for his life in hospital after car crash while he was on duty

Silhouette of teacher writing on whiteboard in classroom

Christian teacher sacked after refusing to use trans pupil’s preferred pronouns loses religious discrimination case

Jurgen Klopp holding a Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool shirt during the LFC Foundation Ball at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

'I turned off my telly' - Jurgen Klopp ‘never been so disappointed’ in fans after they booed Trent Alexander-Arnold

A man has been arrested after a fire killed a mother and her three children

'Absolutely devastating' - Mother and three children die in London house fire as man arrested on suspicion of murder