Lock Up Refugees Until They are Vetted, Say Tories

The Tories will demand today that all asylum seekers should be held in secure accommodation on arrival in Britain until they have been vetted on security grounds.

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative leader, will give a warning that the current "chaos" in the asylum system means that terrorists and criminals are entering Britain.

He will announce that a future Tory government would seek an urgent review of international law on asylum, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1951 United Nations convention on refugees.

Tony Blair faced criticism yesterday for trying to pre-empt the Tories by disclosing that Labour might also quit the human rights convention if current measures fail to stem the flow of asylum seekers.

Opposition parties accused Mr Blair of a "knee-jerk" response on asylum and of "losing control" of the system.

A Labour backbencher said the Government was "panicking" in the face of "tabloid hysteria".

Downing Street denied that Mr Blair's remarks were aimed at getting positive headlines on asylum. His official spokesman said that, if the latest measures did not work, "we are not afraid to think more radically, more fundamentally if necessary".

However officials were unable to clarify Mr Blair's suggestion that Britain might review Europe's human rights convention, already incorporated into British law.

His official spokesman said one of the main concerns was Article 3 of the convention, which meant those refused asylum could not be deported back to countries where they claim they would be tortured or killed. But the Government's legal advisers have told Mr Blair that Britain would have to give six months' notice before quitting the European convention.

In the meantime, it would still be binding. There might also be difficulties in re-joining on different terms.

However, there is a much simpler answer to the Government's dilemma. Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, could simply advise ministers that he considered Britain would not be in breach of Article 3 if it deported suspected terrorists and others with no right to asylum.

Mr Duncan Smith, during a visit to Scotland, said asylum was a "dangerous problem" because the Government was incapable of deporting anyone posing a threat.

The Government should have the power to detain and deport anybody who might cause a problem to British people and their way of life.

Mr Duncan Smith will make a specific link today between the influx of asylum seekers and the terrorist threat. He will urge the Government to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure all asylum seekers are detained until screened and cleared by the security service.

"People should not be admitted to our towns and cities until we are confident they pose no threat," Mr Duncan Smith will say.

The Tories have abandoned their previous policy of detaining all asylum seekers until their claims are processed. Instead, they propose a more limited detention while they are vetted, coupled with a review of international treaties on refugees. He will make clear that the Tories will seek to take the lead in securing an international response to the asylum crisis.

Why even bother with incarceration. Deport them. Get rid of them. They mean the U.K. nothing but ill. In the last eight years I have travelled almost yearly to Britain. I have seen the worst of the old empire have come home to roost and it is a Left hand that is feeding this foul fowl. Send them back to the wretched Islamoland from which they came, or the Ravens at the "Tower" will be forced to move to a better neighborhood and England will be lost, forver.

Mr Duncan Smith, during a visit to Scotland, said asylum was a "dangerous problem" because the Government was incapable of deporting anyone posing a threat.

So is the U.S. Fourteenth Amendment that considers children born of foreign nationals to be automatic U.S. citizens. The section of the amendment that permits this, is now well beyond the nobility of its original purpose.

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