Blunkett's asylum rebuff

No swift closure of Sangatte camp

By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

David Blunkett's tough talking on asylum was never likely to be matched by instant solutions.

And, after his meeting with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, he has failed to win a concrete proposal on the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp.

This is a football that has been kicked all around the pitch and, as yet, got nowhere near a goal mouth.

Blunkett talks tough

We've had the French refusing point blank to recognise there was a problem.

We have had suggestions from ministers that Paris had agreed to close it down.

And we have had just about every other variation on these themes.

Negative headlines

Throughout it all there has been the ever-present suspicion that Mr Blunkett's main concern was the headlines he was attracting - particularly from the right-wing press.

And after Tuesday night's meeting, he won the inevitably negative banners.

It appears the Home Secretary has secured an assurance from the French to finally close the camp, but only if the UK puts its own asylum house in order.

The French want new laws to combat illegal immigrants, they have been promised £5m to add to security at the Channel Tunnel depot at Frethun and they are likely to see Mr Blunkett pressing ahead with ID cards.

There will be further meetings between the two men, with firm conclusions probably next month.

But, what they'll hope is that Britain and France in particular and Europe in general are moving towards some sort of comprehensive, balanced package of measures to tackle the problem of immigration and asylum seekers.

Draconian measures

Work was started at last week's Seville summit. Tony Blair may not have got everything he wanted, but he was relatively happy with the outcome.

Tougher security on tunnel

That has now been followed through at Tuesday night's meeting with similar results.

What some have feared is that, in the wake of the growth of support for right-wing parties across Europe - mostly based on their exploitation of the immigration issue - leaders would be tempted into knee jerk policies that were too draconian and out of proportion to the problem.

There are now some signs that the initial near-hysteria has faded and that rational and, most importantly, proportionate measures are being agreed.

Meanwhile, we are also beginning to see the first signs of a real debate about whether the problem is, in any case, as severe as has been portrayed.

When all the blinding dust kicked up by the far right's relatively limited and short-lived successes has settled, we may end up with some sensible and balanced new measures that do not threaten Britain's image as a haven for genuine asylum seekers and immigrants.