Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to publication of the Government’s evaluation into their offensive ad vans telling people to ‘Go Home’, said:

“This evaluation proves these divisive ad vans were a complete gimmick which should never have been approved by the Home Secretary in the first place.

“It is no surprise that only 2% of those contacting the ad van number were those wanting to leave the country.

“And despite all the publicity the Ad Vans got, and the claims made by Downing Street, the evaluation shows that less than a dozen cases involving people who left were linked to the vans. And even these figures may not be reliable.

“The evaluation proves this was never a serious policy to deal with illegal immigration which has been getting worse.

“It was a disgraceful personal error of judgement by Theresa May - she signed off the vans, the slogans and the funding and defended them for months before her recent u-turn.

“At the same time the number of people who were refused entry and then deported has fallen by almost 50 per cent. It is clear this is a Government which is failing on the fundamentals of illegal immigration.

“Unfortunately this Government is simply more interested in gimmicks than effective action.”