Immigration: Hughes fault

The Tories claim a government scalp

IT WAS, said David Blunkett, the home secretary, the worst day of his political life. The resignation of Beverley Hughes, his deputy in charge of immigration, following a campaign by the Conservative opposition and disaffected civil servants to expose flaws in the immigration system, shows how rattled the government has become over breaches of the nation's borders. It is also a tribute to how well the Tories have exploited the issue.

Ms Hughes's troubles began on March 7th, when Steve Moxon, a Sheffield immigration official, claimed that East European applicants were being waved through with minimal checks. Ms Hughes said that local officials were responsible, but this turned out to be wrong. A leaked memo from the head office of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate showed that senior figures had approved the measures in order to clear a backlog.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, then revealed a series of e-mails and letters showing that Bulgarian and Romanian “entrepreneurs” were being granted visas over the advice of consular officials, who knew their applications were dodgy. The Home Office had ignored a string of protests from Bucharest and Sofia. Earlier this week, Ms Hughes claimed she had not known about this until Mr Davis's revelations. But when it emerged that the Labour chief whip had warned her a year ago, she had to go.

The government has tried to look tough over immigration. Ms Hughes and Mr Blunkett have cracked down on asylum-seekers, taking credit for a 41% drop in applications between 2002 and 2003, and hoped this would improve public confidence in the system.

That plan has fallen apart, for two reasons. First, the mood among those who process immigration claims has turned nasty. That branch of government has a reputation for being intractable, and it seems that foot-soldiers are miffed at political intrusions into their work. Whistleblowers are queuing up, according to Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrats' home-affairs spokesman: “My office is getting e-mails from all kinds of sources, and I'm sure David Davis is getting even more.”

The other reason is that the Tories have worked out how to play the immigration card. The issue is a dangerous one for a party that is split between laissez-faire metropolitans and plain-talking folk in the heartlands. Talk of immigrants “swamping” the nation has in the past proved disastrous. By shifting the issue from toughness to managerial competence, Mr Davis has drawn blood from the government without harming his own party.

Article considers the resignation on 1 April 2004 of Beverley Hughes, the UK's Immigration Minister.

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