Labour scolded as asylum housing spend takes staggering chunk out of foreign aid budget: 'We could buy THREE war ships!'

"And there's many people would like to see the foreign aid budget channelled in a different direction, such as in defence, for instance," he said.

Research carried out by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) said the money, which was meant to be going overseas, poses a "serious risk to value for money".

In 2024, £2.8billion was spent on housing migrants and asylum seekers – £1billion more than the UK spent on humanitarian aid.

The report revealed that setting a figure for aid spend as a percentage of GDP and including asylum costs within this figure "undermined value for money".

The £2.8billion figure represents enough to procure three additional warships, Mark noted, pointing out that the Royal Navy currently lacks sufficient vessels to maintain adequate presence in the Eastern Mediterranean or Persian Gulf.

He said: "There's many people would like to see the foreign aid budget channelled in a different direction, such as in defence, for instance.

"But the fact is we're cutting back on that, some of it to supply defence, but a lot of it to go on the accommodation of these migrants here in this country."

Analysing Sir Keir Starmer's efforts to tackle the migrant crisis, Mark revealed the number of illegal migrants that have been returned to France since the pilot of the one in, one out scheme.

Under the scheme, Britain has returned just 377 individuals to French territory, while simultaneously accepting 380 people from France during the same period.

"We've taken three more than we've ever sent, which is in itself ridiculous," Mark observed.

The initiative was designed as a deterrent, operating on a reciprocal basis to discourage crossings by creating genuine risk of removal.

"They said it was one in one out, actually, with a view to putting people off from coming across the Channel because of the risk that they'd be sent back," Mark explained.

Sir Keir Starmer had pledged that returns would escalate significantly, with the Prime Minister suggesting numbers could reach into the thousands if President Macron agreed to accept them.

"It was supposed to be hundreds, it was going to be ramped up, we were told by Sir Keir Starmer, into potentially the thousands, if Monsieur Macron would be willing to accept that," Mark stated.

Yet these ambitious projections have failed to materialise in practice.

The actual return figures remain negligible when measured against the tens of thousands of migrants who have crossed the Channel since the scheme became operational last autumn.

The scale of ongoing arrivals starkly illustrates the scheme's limited impact as a deterrent.

Approximately 1,200 migrants made the crossing in the seven days prior to recent poor weather conditions in the Channel.

"That is a paltry figure compared to the many tens of thousands who have arrived since October of last year," Mark said of the return numbers.