Blunkett does deal to close Sangatte
David Blunkett today set out to tighten Britain's asylum regime after striking a deal with the French to close the refugee hostel at Sangatte.
The Home Secretary won an agreement that Paris will fix a timetable for shutting the camp once new accommodation centres to house asylum-seekers in Britain are up and running.
The move still has to be pushed through Parliament in the face of unhappiness among backbench Labour MPs and peers. Next week the Home Office will publish plans to make refugees carry ID cards in order to claim services. France believes the new rules will reduce the "pull factors" which draw economic migrants to the UK.
Tories claimed that the Government was giving in to the French by allowing them to dictate terms over Sangatte's closure. Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said: "This sounds like a complete failure of negotiation. The Home Secretary will have to try harder."
As part of the deal struck yesterday between Mr Blunkett and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, Britain will contribute towards the ? 4million cost of a beefed-up security fence around the freight terminal at Frethun, near Calais, where hundreds of asylum seekers try each week to stow away on trains for Kent. Scanners will be installed at Calais to detect refugees hiding on trains, Britain will supply France with anti-forgery technology, and a joint intelligence operation will tackle people-smuggling gangs in France.
After last night's meeting, Mr Sarkozy admitted Sangatte, home to 1,500 refugees, had "poisoned" relations between the two countries since it opened in 1999 and said closing the centre remained an objective.
In a speech tonight, Mr Blunkett was outlining his goal of " reclaiming the flag" from far-Right racists who have made political capital from the row over asylum. In the text of his speech to the Social Market Foundation, he said that displaying the Union Flag and the Cross of St George should be acceptable throughout the year.
The Asylum, Nationality and Immigration Bill could become law as soon as September.
