Tories in new attack on asylum

Michael Howardlaunched a fresh attack on the Government's asylum record today as a new poll showed his hardline stance was paying off.

In a speech today, the Conservative leader is set to declare that the annual council bill for coping with asylum is at a record £400 million, 30 times more than in 1997.

Early evidence that the Tory strategy is reaping rewards comes in a poll putting the party only one point behind Labour.

The YouGov/Daily Telegraph poll, which puts the Conservatives on 34 per cent, Labour on 35 and the Liberal Democrats on 22, is the first since the Tories announced plans for a £4-billion tax cut and tougher immigration rules. The previous YouGov survey, in the middle of last month, put the Tories on 32 per cent, and their poll ratings have stagnated for months.

Speaking in Maidstone - in his second speech on immigration in four days - Mr Howard was set to harden his line yet further, saying: "We simply cannot ignore the scale of the problem. When Mr Blair took office, councils spent ?13 million on asylum.

"That figure is now almost £400 million - a 30-fold increase. That is the price we are paying for a system that is in chaos, overseen by a prime minister who has run out of ideas about how to fix it."

The Tories are promising an annual limit on the number of asylum seekers and a points system for those seeking work permits. Mr Blair is to announce Labour's proposals next month in the Home Office's five-year plan on asylum and immigration.

Mr Howard was today set to use his Jewish background to prove he was not proposing racist policies, recounting how his grandmother was murderedin Auschwitz and adding: "It's not racist to talk about immigration and not racist to criticise the system. And it's not racist to impose limits on immigration."

British people are tolerant and always ready to help those in genuine need, he was set to say. But many now feel their tolerance, sense of fair play and desire to help others were being abused: "Fair play matters. They want a Government that upholds the rules, not one that turns a blind eye when they are bent and abused.

"And let us be clear, our asylum system is being abused - and with it Britain's generosity." He accuses the Government of failing to compensate councils fully for the cost of supporting asylum seekers . Kent county council has predicted a £5 million shortfall in 2004/05. When other costs are taken into account, the total bill for asylum has increased by £3 billion since Labour came to office in 1997 - the equivalent of £140 per household.

But former Tory immigration minister Charles Wardle today accused Mr Howard of being a "nasty confidence trickster, and attacked Tory plans to withdraw from the UN Convention on refugees.

He also praised Mr Blair for "significantly" cutting asylum applications over the past two years.