The papers, extracted from the government after months of delay, also reveal how the Home Office successfully agreed with the traditionally independent Office for National Statistics (ONS) to delay publication of sensitive migration figures for party political gain.
They further suggest Tony Blair might have misled the public during the immigration crisis last spring by making statements that were privately contradicted by officials.
The confidential papers, which include dozens of internal e-mails, were obtained by Sir Andrew Green, a former British ambassador in Saudi Arabia and Syria.
He used the government’s access to information code to apply for all Home Office files on himself and on MigrationWatch UK, a think tank of which he is founder and chairman.
The documents show how a team of civil servants has been assembled by the Home Office in a desperate campaign to try to score political points in the face of factual criticism by MigrationWatch and other critics of government immigration policy.
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E-mails show that the special group was set up in the Home Office to monitor MigrationWatch’s mailings and conferences. Senior civil servants met to discuss what they knew about the group and how ministers could “combat” its policy statements.
“Ministers would like us to be able to respond to, and to be ahead of, some of the ideas, facts and figures they are promulgating,” says one of the e-mails. “We need a network to act in the same flexible, fleet-of-foot way as MigrationWatch.”
The files also show how the ONS approached the Home Office last year for its “views” on whether it should delay the publication of statistics that showed that more immigrants were entering the country than ever before.
The Home Office knew publication of the figures — showing net migration had risen to a record high of 172,000 — would lead to media claims that immigration was out of control.
Reporting the ONS approach, one Home Office official wrote to another: “Appreciate you and press office may prefer option two (to delay publication) not least to avoid renewed attacks from MigrationWatch in the short term.”
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In the event the ONS delayed the publication of the figures, just as the spin doctors wanted. It claimed publicly that it had been forced to do this because of “a small error” in its work.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the files showed that the independence of the ONS, which should be guaranteed under government rules, had been compromised.
He said: “An independent statistical organisation shouldn’t be seeking any views on when to publish.”
Green said: “To have them influencing the statistics is extremely dangerous. I can see no reason why the ONS as a statistical organisation should seek Home Office guidance. They don’t even report to the Home Office.”
The files also contain a series of admissions by officials that contradict official government statements on asylum policy: crucially, one by Blair during the immigration crisis summit that followed the resignation of Beverley Hughes, the immigration minister.
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A Home Office spokesman said last night: “It is common practice in government to provide briefing and statistics for ministers to challenge claims that we believe to be inaccurate or misleading . . . We believe MigrationWatch give an overinflated picture of levels of migration and this is damaging to public confidence.”