Last night Government MPs defeated attempts to amend the Rwanda bill for a final time. I am saddened that our great nation has resulted to an extortionately expensive gimmick rather than a serious plan to tackle dangerous boat crossings. I have opposed the Rwanda scheme from its inception as cruel, expensive and unworkable. I fear we are about to see my concerns made real in the coming weeks.

The Rwanda scheme will cost more than half a billion pounds for just 300 people, less than one per cent of asylum seekers here in the UK – and there is no plan for the 99 per cent.

Instead of spending £2 million per asylum seeker on this failing scheme I believe Ministers should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead.

This is the third new law the Government has passed on Channel crossings in two years – each one has made the chaos worse and even senior Government MPs don’t believe this third law will work. As former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has said this is just a plan to get a few symbolic flights off before an election. Now the new law has passed, the Government will immediately sign another £50 million cheque to Rwanda on top of the £200 million sent so far, even though not a single asylum seeker has yet been sent.

The Government should drop this eye-wateringly expensive election stunt and instead adopt a practical plan boost our border security with new cross-border police and new counter terror style powers to crack down on the criminal gangs, and a new Returns and Enforcement Unit to remove those who have no right to be here.

I am proud that Plymouth is a welcoming city to those fleeing war and persecution. In the past few years we have welcomed families from Ukraine, the Middle East and further afield too. I do not believe the Rwanda scheme will work. It will simply cost the taxpayer huge sums while the backlog in asylum claims builds and the taxpayer is asked to pay for more and more hotel spaces.

The Rwanda Bill will soon receive Royal Assent and become law. That will be a sad day for Britain. I am grateful to all those people I represent who have shared views and concerns about this Bill. For the past few months all Opposition Parties have opposed the Rwanda Bill and I have voted against it time and time again. Sadly, the Government outnumbers those opposed to the Bill and voted it through last night, not even accepting the basic amendments.

The final two amendments Ministers voted down last night were to have a committee be able to advise if Rwanda becomes unsafe, because the Government has decided by law, Rwanda is safe whether, in reality,  it is or not. That is ridiculous newspeak. The second amendment was about ensuring that those Afghans who served alongside UK troops in Afghanistan are not deported to Rwanda. I have written in the Telegraph about why this amendment should be supported. You can read that article here. The Government’s treatment of Afghans since before the fall of Kabul has been a shameful saga and the votes to ensure that any Afghans who served alongside our forces and arrive via small boats are deported is a further disgrace. I honestly believe Britain is so much better than the impression the Rwanda Bill gives.

I will continue to stand up for a decent immigration system, tackling the backlog of cases, strong borders and greater international co-operation. That is the path to addressing the small boats crisis, not an expensive gimmick that won’t work and will cost taxpayers dearly.