Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed the Rwanda deportation scheme is “dead and buried”, on his first full day as prime minister.

The Labour leader said he would end the “gimmick” of deporting migrants arriving in the UK illegally to Rwanda, which was established by the previous Conservative government.

Labour campaigned on a manifesto pledge to scrap the scheme, which has already cost around £310m, promising a more effective approach to tackling illegal immigration to replace it.

At his first press conference since entering Number 10, Sir Keir told journalists: “The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started.”

He argued the scheme has “never been a deterrent” as it would only deport “less than1%” of small boat arrivals.

The financial implications of scrapping the scheme and the total bill to the taxpayer are not yet known. Ending the scheme also leaves a question mark over the fate of 52,000 migrants earmarked for deportation.