Official figures have shown another sharp fall in the number of asylum seekers.

The Home Office published data on Tuesday showing an 11 per cent drop to 7,920 in the number of applications over the three months to June.

Applications are now 70 per cent lower a month than the high point of October 2002, when the prime minister promised to halve the number of entrants claiming refuge in Britain, and 26 per cent lower than the same point last year.

The total number of arrivals is also now at its lowest point since the second quarter of 1997, when Labour came to power.

But between April and June the level of removals of failed asylum seekers fell by six per cent, which the Home Office put down to EU expansion.

And critics have accused the government of massaging the figures by failing to include an estimate of undeclared illegal immigrants.

Results

However immigration minister Des Browne said the statistics were the results of the work put in by David Blunkett's department.

"The government is committed to pursuing a balanced asylum and immigration policy and today's figures show that is working," he said.

"We have cut abuse and are protecting our borders while at the same time offering a haven to those genuinely fleeing persecution, and providing controlled legal routes for workers who want to make a contribution to the UK and where it is in the interests of our economy.

"We have made good progress in dramatically cutting asylum claims, which are now back down to 1997 levels, while removing a far greater proportion of asylum seekers than were being removed in spring 1997. 

"There were fewer asylum applications in the whole of the last three months than for the single month of October 2002.

"This has been achieved by bringing in tough new legislation to tackle abuse and cut delays, securing our borders, rolling out detection technology and UK immigration controls to foreign soil, closing Sangatte, introducing fast-track processing, ending in-country appeals for nationals of safe countries and bringing in new visa regimes."

'Laughing stock'

But shadow home secretary David Davis said the headline figures could not be trusted.

"The fall in the number of people claiming asylum isn't a big surprise. When the problem of illegal immigrants entering the country is blatantly ignored, no wonder fewer people bother to claim asylum," he said.

"The fact remains that Britain's asylum system is a laughing stock. It's astonishing that we're removing fewer failed asylum seekers than before, when there are tens of thousands of people who shouldn't be here.

"Hidden in these figures are tens of thousands of people who would never have been allowed to stay before. That's why Britain has a reputation as a soft touch, and that's why a new Sangatte is opening up a mile down the road from the old one.

"These figures have become utterly discredited. People don't trust the government to tell the truth on asylum. The government have fiddled everything to meet Tony Blair's target on asylum, even if that means ignoring illegal immigrants and handing out work permits like confetti."

Media

Liberal Democrat spokesman Mark Oaten said ministers were more concerned about the media's view than providing a just system.

"The asylum system is still in chaos, with too many delays and inaccurate decisions," he said.

"It is high time that responsibility for the day to day running of the UK's asylum policy was taken away from the Home Office.

"Setting targets to reduce asylum applications is a meaningless exercise. The numbers seeking asylum should be based on the international situation not the government's reaction to tabloid hysteria."

And chairman of the Migrationwatch campaign group Sir Andrew Green argued that the figures were "yet another spin operation".

"The fall in applications to the UK is less than the fall to the EU generally," he said.

"Removals are down, despite the fact only one in five of failed asylum seekers is removed.

"The government are clearly seeking to distract attention from the wider issue of immigration.

"Immigration figures issued today show a sharp increase in settlement of 20 per cent in 2003 compared to 2002. Grants for settlement are now at their highest recorded level at 140,000 in 2003 - more than double the 1997 figure of 59,000."