UK immigration minister quits under a cloud

British Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes resigned yesterday after officials exposed lax controls which allowed migrants from Romania and Bulgaria to enter the country with forged papers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Ms Hughes, 54, had quit for "unwittingly" misleading parliament over the affair after days of media and political attacks.

Immigration is set to be a key issue at the next election, expected in the first half of next year, with Mr Blair keen to counter opposition claims that his government is too liberal in allowing asylum seekers and new immigrants into Britain.

Ms Hughes was replaced by Des Browne, a junior minister in the Work and Pensions department, indicating that any consequent ministerial reshuffle will not spill over to major government figures. Analysts said Mr Blair himself was unlikely to suffer any political damage from the affair.

Ms Hughes, who was elected to parliament in 1997 when Mr Blair was swept to power, tendered her resignation on Wednesday night.

"Nothing is more important than my integrity and while I did not intentionally mislead anyone, I have decided that I cannot in conscience continue to serve as immigration minister," she told parliament in a resignation statement yesterday.

Mr Blair later told his monthly news conference she had behaved with "integrity" and a "great deal of courage".

It was unclear whether Ms Hughes had jumped or was pushed although she received strong backing from her boss, Home Secretary David Blunkett, and Mr Blair this week.

The government was plunged into a bitter row this week after a senior British diplomat in Romania claimed that cases, some bogus, had been rushed through to clear backlogs in the system.

Mr Blunkett has suspended all immigration applications from Romania and Bulgaria pending an investigation.

His role will now come under fire but Mr Blair brushed aside suggestions that Mr Blunkett too should resign.

The diplomat who exposed the shortcomings, British Consul in Romania James Cameron, has been suspended.

The row follows a separate government inquiry into how checks came to be waived at an immigration centre in the northern city of Sheffield in order to clear a backlog there. That too was exposed by a whistleblower who was later suspended.

Scenting blood, opposition Conservative leader Michael Howard has launched a scathing attack on Mr Blair.

Mr Blair said he would act. "If there is a particular case of fraud here, or abuse, then we have to deal with it," he said.

Ms Hughes had said she was unaware of the situation but a year-old letter from a fellow minister, to which she replied, has now been unearthed which detailed the problems in Romania and Bulgaria.

"I realised that what I said then was not in fact fully consistent with that correspondence," she told parliament.

The Conservatives published an e-mail from diplomat Cameron which said migrants were being let into Britain despite having forged papers. They claimed one successful applicant had only one leg yet claimed to be a roof-tiler.

Further e-mails between UK officials showed the government knew more than a year ago about false claims from Romania.

"I'm not saying everything is fine, it obviously isn't," Mr Blair said.