Blair asylum pledge was a 'tactical grab for headlines'

Tony Blair was under fire from the left and right yesterday when he pulled back from bringing in new measures to prevent abuse of the asylum system.

Only a day after the Prime Minister raised the prospect of ending some of Britain's commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights, Downing Street made clear the Government would review the impact of its existing measures before introducing new ones. It refused to say how long the review would take.

Mr Blair's apparent retreat came after he was accused by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs of a "knee-jerk" reaction and pandering to hysteria about asylum whipped up by tabloid newspapers.

Today, the Tories will seek to exploit the Government's growing anxiety over asylum by bringing forward publication of their own proposals to tighten up the system.

Iain Duncan Smith, the leader of the Opposition, and Oliver Letwin, the shadow Home Secretary, will call for all new asylum-seekers to be held in "secure accommodation" until they have been screened and cleared by the security services. They will also demand the international conventions on asylum be reviewed urgently – with a clear implication that a Tory government would pull out of them.

Mr Duncan Smith said last night: "It is not acceptable for any international convention, particularly one that may be many years out of date, to stop the British Government from providing a better asylum system in the interests of the refugee and the people of Britain. So the next Conservative government will be prepared to take the lead, if necessary, in delivering an international response to the growing asylum crisis."

Mr Letwin added: "Terrorists know they can gain access to Britain by taking advantage of our chaotic asylum system. This cannot be allowed to go on, especially at this dangerous period in our history."

In a television interview on Sunday, Mr Blair said the Government might "fundamentally" re-examine its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, which says people cannot be deported to a country where their life may be in danger.

Yesterday, his official spokesman struck a different note, saying that the Government needed to assess whether its existing measures had worked. "We have to see whether these do take effect and do result in what we want to achieve. If they do not, what the Prime Minister was clearly signalling is that we are not afraid to think more radically if necessary," he said.

Later, the spokesman denied that Mr Blair had sought to grab favourable headlines on asylum to pre-empt the Tory attack. "He is deeply serious about tackling this issue, about pushing through the measures we have taken and, if necessary, going beyond that and thinking more radical thoughts."

Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said: "I am dismayed by the tone of what is being said. I fear that the Government is panicking instead of addressing the issues. We should concentrate on dealing with applications much more quickly instead of going along with tabloid hysteria."

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "I don't know whether this is simply the Prime Minister responding in a slightly knee-jerk fashion to the whims of the week in certain newspapers or whether it is a considered article of government policy, but either way it would be a great mistake for this country to go down this route."