Immigration 'culture of deceit'

Davis: Hughes must explain herself

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has accused the government of a "systematic culture of deceit" over immigration.

Ministers had allowed the system to "get out of control" and they were now using "back door methods" to try to put it right, he told GMTV.

Mr Davis was responding to a Sunday Times report claiming ministers had approved a fast-tracking system to remove a backlog of applications.

The Home Office said it was not secret and was in line with past practice.

Speaking on GMTV's Sunday Programme, Mr Davis called on immigration minister Beverley Hughes to resign if she could not explain apparent discrepancies between the version of events she gave the Commons and a leaked memo in The Sunday Times.

These exercises have gone on as long as there have been backlogs in the immigration department, including under Michael Howard. Home Secretary David Blunkett's spokesman

The memo from senior managers at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Croydon stated that a backlog of applications from people who had been in the country for more than three months should be cleared "as quickly as possible", with ministerial backing.

Last week the Sutton Report found that a decision to waive checks in Sheffield on eastern Europeans seeking to come to Britain to set up businesses had been taken by junior staff without ministers' approval.

Mr Davis said: "The minister told us this problem was confined to a narrow single group in Sheffield, only about a single type of immigration, done by junior staff, not approved by her.

"This memo demonstrates that every single one of those statements was wrong and she's really got to come to the House and explain herself.

"Frankly, if it turns out to be true, as it seems to be, I think she's got to resign. She's clearly misled the public and the House of Commons."

Evidence

He conceded it was "conceivably possible there's some way of reconciling what she said" with the memo but added that he did not think that was the case.

He accused the Government of "a systematic culture of deceit" over immigration.

"The Government has let this get out of control," he said.

"It's scrambling to try to put it right by back door methods and it's covering it up."

Hughes "referred to scheme"

But Home Office spokesmen said the Sutton Report had referred to the scheme highlighted in the memo.

The spokesmen also pointed out it had been referred to by Ms Hughes in her statement to Parliament on the issue and in earlier evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee.

The Croydon memo referred to measures to speed up the handling of applications from people who had already been in the country legally for some time, and in many cases were asking for extensions to their permission to stay, they said.

A spokesman for Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "These exercises have gone on as long as there have been backlogs in the immigration department, including under (Conservative leader) Michael Howard.

"If the Tories want to challenge us on the way we are dealing with backlogs, then he (Mr Howard) should be open about the measures he took when he was home secretary."