9,909 in, ONE out - Keir Starmer's migrant farce laid bare as 2 key problems remain

Some within the Home Office will be letting out of a sigh of relief this afternoon.

After days of chaos and farce, the first migrant was finally returned to France under Keir Starmer's "one-in, one-out" deal with Emmanuel Macron.

It is 71 days since the agreement was announced, to much fanfare, at the Franco-British Summit in July.

And it is 45 days since the Treaty - essentially the legal enshrining the policy - was ratified.

Since July 8, more than 9,000 migrants have crossed the Channel, making a mockery of the claim it will have a deterrent effect.

To be fair, today's deportation is a significant milestone. And it's likely to trigger a huge political row.

Labour will argue it reinforces their claim that the Rwanda deportation scheme, introduced by the Conservatives, was unworkable.

But everyone else will argue that returning a handful of migrants to France is hardly a deterrent. Especially when the UK has agreed to take in asylum seekers with family members already in the UK, meaning the overall numbers here won't change.

Home Office insiders point to the idea that this can be ramped up.

But this week has shown precisely how difficult this will be.

Monday's heavily trailed first deportation flight left without a single migrant on it.

Last-minute legal challenges meant tickets were also cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is extraordinarily likely more will be cancelled over the coming days and weeks.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has signalled as much by ordering an urgent review into Britain's modern slavery laws.

This will take time and likely face challenges of its own.

And the detail of today's deportation opens up fresh questions over the motives of the French.

They allegedly requested an Indian national - precisely because they have a bespoke returns agreement with Paris.

So, it's created a perception that France is only agreeing to take the people it wants, because it knows it can remove them and reduce their own numbers.

Meanwhile, the UK's overall number remains the same, creating a frankly farcical situation.

Labour must urgently set out that this is not the position.

Otherwise, confidence will collapse in this returns agreement and ministers will face a torrent of criticism from the public.