MINISTERS have been accused of compromising the independence of civil servants whom they allegedly enlisted into a political battle with an anti-immigration pressure group.
Home Office documents disclosed yesterday show that officials were asked to monitor and rebut claims made by MigrationWatch UK two years ago. “Ministers would like us to be in a position to be able to respond to, and to be ahead of, some of the ideas, facts and figures (the group) are promulgating,” one e-mail said.
“We need to form a small network of people to act in the same flexible way, fleet-of-foot way as MigrationWatch.”
The papers, released under data protection rules, also show that the Government sought to delay publication of statistics on immigration last year.
A Home Office memo, in response to a request from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for guidance on this issue, said that postponing the release of figures would help them to “avoid renewed attacks from MigrationWatch in the short term”.
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Although the ONS delayed publication, a senior Whitehall source said yesterday that the decision had been made independently and had nothing to do with political considerations.
“The ONS held back these figures because it wanted to do more work on them: there was a small error which had to be corrected,” the source said. “Of course, the Home Office will talk to them about the timing of publication. But the ONS has proved many times it is capable of making up its own mind.”
David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: “It is wholly wrong of the ONS to seek instructions. An independent statistical organisation should not be seeking any views on when to publish.”
MigrationWatch UK has been a persistent irritant to the Government since it was set up by Sir Andrew Green, a retired diplomat, to challenge liberal orthodoxy on asylum and immigration issues. A Home Office spokesman said: “It is common practice in government to provide briefing and statistics for ministers to challenge claims that we believe to be inaccurate or misleading and believe it is in the public interest to do so.
“We believe MigrationWatch has produced statistics that give an over-inflated picture of levels of migration and this is damaging to public confidence.”
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Des Browne, the Immigration Minister, is expected to seize on figures published this week showing a further fall in the number of asylum-seekers entering this country. The statistics are likely to confirm that the number of applications has fallen from a peak of 8,900 in October 2002, to little more than 2,500 in June this year: which is similar to the figures that the Government inherited in May 1997.
The Home Office will say that successive clampdowns on benefits available for asylum-seekers, as well as the strengthening of border controls, have helped the Government to turn the corner on this politically sensitive issue.
The Tories believe that the figures conceal a significant increase in illegal immigration in the past year. Over the weekend Mr Davis claimed that the establishment of a refugee camp in a French forest was evidence that “the immigration crisis” was far from over.
Hundreds of homeless asylum-seekers have gathered in Forêt des Dunes, near the site of the Sangatte centre in northern France, which was closed two years ago after intense pressure from the British Government.
“Clearly it is a bad sign. It does indicate that the (British) Government hasn’t got a grip on the illegal immigration problem,” Mr Davis said.
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The Home Office said that it was discussing with the French authorities what action should be taken, but dismissed comparisons with Sangatte.
“There are some people sleeping rough in a wood during the summer. Sangatte was a complex providing shelter, food and facilities to 1,500 people while they attempted to gain illegal entry into the UK. This is not a second Sangatte,” a spokesman said.
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