Leaked memo puts pressure on Blair

Pressure intensified on Tony Blair today over allegations that he "misled" voters about the number of illegal immigrants in Britain.

The Prime Minister said last week it was "impossible" to know how many there are.

But a leaked Downing Street memo reveals that Mr Blair ordered two senior civil servants to draw up an estimate last March.

The document appears to contradict Mr Blair's answers when questioned by Jeremy Paxman.

Mr Blair repeatedly refused to give a precise figure despite being pressed 18 times by the Newsnight presenter.

The Conservatives said Mr Blair had "yet again misled the public".

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "He gave people the impression there was no measure of illegal immigration, no measure

of failed asylum seekers. We now know that the Prime Minister commissioned an investigation into the number of illegal immigrants in the UK and all the routes they came in by, including failed asylum seekers."

In the memo, published by the Sunday Times, Downing Street asked Sir John Gieve, the Home Office permanent secretary, and Bill Jeffrey, the director general of the immigration service, to establish "a reliable fact base" on immigration figures.

The document, entitled Asylum Stocktake, details a meeting in Downing Street attended by nine ministers and 18 civil servants.

It said a "robust fact base" was needed for ministers "as a matter of urgency".