The British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, has moved to reject suggestions that the British government is actively considering a plan to abandon immigration controls, including an end to passport checks at airports and ferry terminals.
A report in yesterday's Guardian newspaper said the proposals, contained in an interim report by the Immigration Service Port Directorate (ISPD) which forms part of the government's spending review, would see an end to passport checks with the exception of "targeted passengers" and the possible ending of "all ports warnings" following child abductions or terrorist attacks.
Answering questions in the House of Commons, Mr Straw outlined the government's commitment to "firm" border controls and poured scorn on the Tories' record on immigration policy.
Attacking the Tory policy, with its slogan "Firm but fair", Mr Straw said that the policy had seen a reduction in the number of passengers whose passports were checked by the Immigration Service from 100 per cent to 60 per cent.
Earlier, the prisons Minister, Mr Mike O'Brien, described the ISPD document as a speculative "think-piece". But he acknowledged the Home Office was "examining . . . ways of focusing resources to concentrate on areas of abuse".
Insisting the report was not part of government policy, Mr O'Brien said on BBC radio: "Nothing will become government policy which reduces the enforceability of our immigration controls. At Amsterdam Tony Blair secured our legal rights to have firm border controls. As part of the comprehensive spending review, a lot of ideas are being considered by officials. Only a few are ever likely to become policy." However, the ISPD report has served to highlight the deep fears within the Immigration Service that as the government presses it to reduce costs it will not be able to cope with the projected influx of 85 million visitors a year to Britain by the year 2000. The current number is 75 million. Fears have also been raised within the Home Office over the report's proposal to target certain passengers entering Britain, which could lead to a charge of racism against the Immigration Service.
The political reaction was swift as the Tories and the Liberal Democrats called on the government to clarify its position. The shadow home secretary, Sir Brian Mawhinney, accused the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, of allowing civil servants to "flatly undermine" Britain's commitment to maintain strict border controls, while the Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman, Mr Alan Beith, said clarification on the issue was a matter of importance.
He added: "One minute they talk as if border controls are the key to tackling international crime, the next they seem to be contemplating significant changes to them."