Howard clashes with Blair over immigration

Tony Blair was accused by Michael Howard today of overseeing a "complete shambles" in immigration - amid fears in Downing Street that the issue is becoming an election disaster zone.

Mr Blair was challenged repeatedly in the Commons to explain why the Home Office failed to act on warnings of a giant immigration racket by organised crime rings in Bulgaria and Romania.

Tory leader Mr Howard charged: "The Home Secretary has lost control, the Immigration Minister is not up to her job and the immigration-system is a complete shambles."

Mr Blair refused to be drawn into answering specific questions about the affair, saying he would wait for the outcome of an internal Home Office inquiry. But Mr Howard said only an independent probe would meet public concerns.

The Tories, who have been demanding the resignation of Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes, had already raised the stakes today by pledging to put immigration at the heart of their June euro-elections campaign.

Tory chairman Liam Fox said the EU constitution would mean losing control of borders and added: "I think the Government is quite vulnerable."

And it emerged that Mr Blair's closest advisers also believe the issue is becoming a massive liability for Labour.

Philip Gould, the premier's private pollster, was said to have warned "repeatedly" over recent months that voters are increasingly angry over mass migration and asylum-seekers. Mr Blair himself - expected to mount a stout defence of Ms Hughes today - was reported to have admitted privately that immigration could be the "No 1 grievance" of disgruntled voters at the general election.

He was being put on the spot in the Commons after a sheaf of leaked documents showed the Home Office was repeatedly warned by diplomats over 18 months that entry controls were being "completely undermined" by a "massive, wellorganised scam".