A record number of people asked for citizenship last year, latest figures have revealed.

The increase was largest among people from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

David Blunkett, meanwhile, admitted that the government faced a "long hard haul" to convince the public that it had "got a grip on the asylum system".

The home secretary was speaking as asylum figures showed a downward trend with applications falling 20 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

A YouGov poll for the Telegraph finds that 60 per cent of voters disagree with Blunkett's comment last year that there was "no obvious limit" to the number of economic migrants Britain could accept.

A review of asylum statistics said that the data in most respects was reliable. The study by the National Audit Office said there was no clear evidence that the recent fall in numbers of asylum seekers had pushed up other forms of migration.

But the Conservatives still disputed the figures.

Speaking in Birmingham, Michael Howard also called on all immigrants to learn English.