Asylum issues provoke strong emotions

The measures, unveiled on Monday, include enabling refugees to apply for asylum at British embassies overseas.

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin published a report by a commission he set up which suggests that people would be prevented from entering the country illegally if they were forced to use embassies and consulates.

This report attempts to provide solutions to the present asylum crisis Timothy Kirkhope

Claims would then have to be processed at application centres in "safe" neighbouring countries.

Timothy Kirkhope, a Tory former home office minister and now an MEP, chairs the commission which recommends creating application centres, off-shore but in the British Isles, for those asylum seekers who have already arrived in the UK.

Asylum, where granted would be granted on a temporary basis.

'Green card'

If the country of origin was still considered unsafe after five years, asylum would be granted permanently.

State persecution would be considered the only legitimate reason for granting asylum, rather than non-state persecution, the report says.

Our traditional tolerance has been tested and good race relations have come under serious threat Timothy Kirkhope

This would weed out applicants attempting to enter the country for purely economic reasons, it says.

People would have to apply for a "green card" similar to the US system to prove they had genuine grounds for working in Britain.

The report suggests that an independent application board should be set up to deal with asylum claims and be under the control of Parliament.

Election manifesto

Modelled on the Canadian system, the board would prevent politicisation of the asylum process.

"The current asylum system encourages people to enter the country illegally, pushing them into the hands of smugglers and traffickers, partly because it is impossible to claim asylum overseas," the report says.

"It is therefore important to allow genuine asylum seekers to claim asylum legally. Allowing people to apply for asylum at British embassies and consulates overseas, as is the current Austrian practice, could achieve this outcome."

The commission was established by Mr Letwin to generate ideas for the party's next election manifesto.

It is the next step on from the Conservative's policy of introducing a quota system where a maximum of 20,000 asylum seekers are allowed into the UK each year.

Race relations

Mr Letwin said: "This is an interesting contribution and I am most grateful for it. It gives us much food for thought as we move forward to further development of our policy on asylum."

Mr Kirkhope said the report attempted to "provide solutions to the present asylum crisis".

"I believe that our recommendations, if implemented, would assist in improving asylum procedures and outcomes," he said.

"In recent years Britain's asylum system has been increasingly abused. Our traditional tolerance has been tested and good race relations have come under serious threat.

"The complete failure of government to put in place mechanisms for accurately assessing the numbers and categories of those entering and leaving the country means that we simply do not have the statistics which would allow us to plan properly for the needs of the country in the fields of health, education, housing and social services.

"We owe it to genuine asylum seekers to penalise those who profit from their plight and to re-establish fair and transparent systems of handling applications which enjoy public confidence, both at home and abroad."

Health solutions?

Earlier, Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said his party would be using its forthcoming conference to announce plans for public service reform, which will provide "the antidote" to the government's "control of everything" policy.

He said the government's proposals for foundation hospitals were "pathetic" and even suggested that ministers had tried to emulate Tory plans for reform.

The "antidote" to "total politics" was "to break down the role of central government dramatically, reduce it, push it out" to those who administer public services and those who use them.

Mr Duncan Smith said the Tories would be bringing in a "blend of health service" that combines public, private and voluntary elements.

Health treatment was not free, he argued, with 300,000 people having to seek expensive private treatment last year because they were in pain.