Labour admitted on Monday night that no Channel migrants have been returned to France yet under its much-vaunted 'one in, one out' deal.
Ministers had claimed when the agreement was announced in July that it would take effect within weeks, and the first small boat arrivals due to be returned were detained in Dover at the start of August.
But the Home Secretary told Parliament on Monday that she now expects the deportations to begin 'later this month'.
And Yvette Cooper would not tell MPs how many people would be in the first tranche, while some 3,567 more people have landed in dinghies since the deal with France was ratified - adding to the record numbers arriving this year.
It came as she launched a crackdown on the family reunion scheme, barring refugees from bringing their partners and children to the UK, while Sir Keir Starmer vowed to speed up the closure of asylum hotels in the wake of angry protests around the country.
