By Ben Davies BBC News Online politics staff

Beverley Hughes is the minister for asylum and immigration

This is after all an area which is seldom out of the headlines.

And, it seems, that whatever you do there are critics, be it to the left or to the right.

Despite all that Beverley Hughes seems to be taking the job in her stride.

In her rather functional office suite she has a hands-on manner and, if you didn't know what she looked like, you could be forgiven for passing her in the corridor without realising she is the minister.

In truth though, this member of the class of 1997 of so-called 'Blair Babes', has risen through the ranks quickly and, if she follows her current trajectory, could end up in the cabinet before too long.

Hughes says the fact illegal immigration and abuse of the asylum system "fuel insecurity in communities" make them important issues to tackle.

If people come and try to just tap into the benefit system then that's not fine and we, alongside the other EU countries, want to make sure that's not possible Beverley Hughes

She denies this is dancing to a right-wing tune, however.

"That isn't pandering to right-wing agendas, it is saying this is an important agenda for a progressive left of centre party," she said in an interview with BBC News Online.

"We can't duck it and we can't allow the taunts that we are responding to the right-wing to prevent us from doing that.

"Unless you deal with the abuse (of the asylum system) you can not build a political case for the other aspects of the policy: the legal migration and the resettlement programme that we want to do."

Removals

Hughes acknowledges there is widespread concern over the removal rate of failed asylum seekers.

She insists the government is doing a comparatively good job - despite there being room for improvement.

"This year we expect - when the figures finally come in for last year - between 17 and 18,000 failed asylum seekers will have been removed," she said.

"That is the highest number that any government has ever achieved and it's gone up dramatically over last couple of years."

Hughes adds that when you also take account of people found illegally in the UK who have not claimed asylum, and those dealt with at ports of entry, the figure rises to between 50,000 and 60,000.

Eastern Europeans

A current area of concern - at least in some sections of the media - is the number Eastern Europeans who will be able to come here and work unrestricted from 1 May.

That will come about when countries such as Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic join the EU.

Not surprisingly perhaps, Hughes is critical of a tendency to focus on the "one-dimensional" idea that a bunch of low-skill workers will end up arriving in the UK.

She gives the example of Polish workers many of whom are "very well qualified graduates".

In the past week or so there has been some confusion over the UK position on the accession states.

No restrictions?

Basically Britain and Ireland are the only EU countries that have decided not to place restrictions on the citizens of new member states working.

But the government says it is looking at ways to stop people turning up and trying to tap into the UK's health and benefits systems.

"Looking at the benefit system is not a consequence of having made the decision that we've made on allowing people to work," she insists.

"And whilst the decision for those other countries [France, Germany and so on] is for them, we all know that those countries all have a substantial illegal working population.

"People from the accession countries can go into those countries freely and I think that they will need to think about whether that's actually going to add to their illegal working population or not.

If people come and try to just tap into the benefit system then that's not fine Beverley Hughes

"We've taken the decision that we've got a buoyant labour market, that we can employ people and therefore it is in our interests as well as in their interest to enable them to work."

Some newspapers have suggested that a large number of Eastern Europe's gipsies are planning to come to Britain.

Hughes says: "I don't think they will."

She adds: "If people come and try to just tap into the benefit system then that's not fine and we, alongside the other EU countries, want to make sure that's not possible."

But what percentage of people who come here as migrant workers go back?

Any idea?

"It's very hard for me to actually say that because we don't have embarkation controls. If we do go to an ID card system electronically that would allow us to do that much more easily."

The admission that the UK has no real idea of who remains in the UK and who leaves echoes David Blunkett's admission last year that he hasn't "got a clue" about the number of people illegally in Britain.

Asked about this admission by her boss, Hughes says: "No country by definition has any idea of people there illegally that it can actually say 'yes we're 100% sure' this is a valid figure."

Be that as it may, the home secretary's remark has been seized on by groups such as Migrationwatch UK.

They also quote what they say are Home Office figures from 2002 which founder Sir Andrew Green argues show that 150,000 more people migrated to Britain than left it each year.

Dispute

"These are just the ones that are counted," he said recently.

He argues a further 50,000 come in illegallly - a figure he adds to the 150,000 to make 200,000 a year, or 2m over a decade.

But Hughes disputes the figures saying that Migrationwatch is including invalid assumptions in order to reach its conclusions.

Asylum remains a controversial issue in the UK

She says: "They do seem to be a group that is opposed to immigration per se."

She points to figures from the government actuary's department published in December which suggest that net inward migration is likely to be 130,000 per year from 2003-4 onwards.

Under fire?

But, of course, those figures do not take account of illegal migrants.

While the government comes under fire for not being tough enough, it is also criticised for some of its measures aimed at discouraging abuse of the asylum system.

In particular Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act which limits the time within which people arriving in the UK can claim asylum.

If they try to claim after three days, under Section 55 they are not entitled to the help that asylum seekers get, such as benefits.

The day before we met London Mayor Ken Livingstone said something of the order of 10,000 people could be made destitute in the capital alone because of Section 55.

'Tough'

Hughes acknowledges that it is a "tough policy".

She adds: "On the other hand I do dispute the figures that are being quoted there.

"I mean certainly in terms of the most up to date figures we've got, which is for the first nine months of last year, the end of September where we've got confirmed figures there were 7,500 in total had been refused under Section 55 - that's national.

"So it's very hard to see how you get a figure of 10,000."

She adds: "I'm not saying there aren't some problems for some people but most people are being supported, either by family or by voluntary organisations, and are not on the streets."