The Tories obsession with Rwanda has cost us taxpayers over £500m.

And apart from visits from three Home Secretaries, no-one has been deported, and just one person picked up a £3000 cheque, voluntarily, and flew off to Kigali.

While Labour exposed this Government's utter failure to address the real concerns associated with the asylum system, Government legislated to suspend the courts, break international law and at very best, create a system which will deport less than one per cent of asylum seekers.

They have already said they can't operate the scheme for at least another three months despite years of making this their flagship policy. They certainly won't 'stop the boats'.

Firstly, it is sickening for Government to use some of the most vulnerable people as a political wedge rather than addressing the very real challenges which have blighted their lives.

Let us not forget why we are in this situation: because this Government left asylum applications waiting on desks as asylum seekers waited in hotels.

Labour has always been clear that asylum seekers must be people who need a place of sanctuary, under international law. It is not a route by which anyone can travel to the UK, since other processes are available for those coming to study, work or join with family.

However, without safe routes, then people will be prepared to risk their lives to come.

The backlog gave Government the opportunity to stigmatise and blame, pitching people against one another. As frustrations grew, Government sought to blame everything and everyone, not least the victims of the system, but never themselves.

It is they that cut off the safe and legal routes, and failed to put a comprehensive international force together to crack down on these criminal gangs operating small boats out of the French border and profiteering out of people’s desperation.

Last year 29,437 people arrived in the UK by dangerous boat crossings while tragically 14 people have already died this year so far, two aged just seven years; the Channel is becoming a grave.

Now the Tories are using this tragedy as a way to stir up anger again, all the way to the ballot box.

We must rise above this, and call out their failure to govern a humane and functioning asylum system.

With 100 million on the move, the vast majority internally displaced, we know that war (there are 43 serious conflicts raging right now around the wold), climate change as the planet heats up, and global challenges are the common causes. Hope for a better future, or a future at all, drives us all forward no matter where we are born.

Labour recognises the challenges, and will institute workable solutions.

We will not stigmatise, point fingers and blame, but provide the leadership necessary to confront the challenges here in the UK as well as globally.

This week, Labour said that it starts with engagement. While the Tories have run away from Europe since Brexit, we know that until we have a united approach, gangs will flourish while those seeking sanctuary will be exploited.

We will invest in processing claims, make decisions and, as a result, close hotels. A special border force will ensure that law is upheld. And we will scrap the unworkable Rwanda Plan.

Labour's Home Office team will ensure that we stop and tackle the people trafficking and modern slavery through a renewed approach.

If people come from a safe country, they will not be able to seek asylum as it is not asylum they are really seeking.

If people want to come to the UK and contribute, there are legal visa routes to aid families to come together or enable people's skills and talents to be exercised across the economy or in our public services.

Above all, we must never let the system become dispassionate to the needs of others.

Our world is a dangerous place; the scale of violence, exploitation and injustice immense.

The solution is providing global leadership, using our soft power and advocating our values, so ultimately people can live freely in their land.

As a country we have forgotten what can be achieved by good governance and global leadership, too absent for too long.

Labour will work internationally, to advocate for real solutions while recognising and addressing the real challenges back here in the UK.

For those that do find sanctuary, as a City of Sanctuary, we will ensure that refugees find their place among us.

Rachael Maskell is the Labour MP for York Central