Tories: Action not rhetoric needed on immigration

Friday, 26, Jan 2007 12:00

The Conservatives have said the new borders bill will not solve the immigration problem because the Home Office ministers are not in full control of their department.

The new bill extends immigration officers' powers of arrest, allowing them to hold suspected people traffickers and people who have made fraudulent asylum claims.

Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "It is not the intentions of the Home Office that matter, it is the ministers of the Home Office and how effective they are that matter. Their record speaks for themselves."

The bill also introduces a presumption that foreign prisoners will be deported as soon as they finish their sentence and all non-European foreign residents will be forced to apply for biometric identity cards.

Mr Green said: "This is the government's sixth immigration bill in ten years. The previous five have not worked so there is no reason to believe that John Reid's tough rhetoric will translate into effective action this time."