Ministers can't even find 100 foreign criminals

5.56.59pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th Jul 2008

Commenting on the announcement that fewer than one third of the foreign criminals at the centre of the scandal which caused Charles Clarke to resign have been deported, and that over 100 have yet to be located, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"Ministers bang on about record numbers of foreign prisoners being deported, but the truth is that they still cannot even find some of the criminals that cost Charles Clarke his job, let alone deport them.

Commenting on the UK Borders Agency's update on its clearing of the backlog of UK asylum seeker claims, Chris Huhne said:

"While the Government struggles to clear hundreds of thousands of asylum cases, many are left destitute and without access to healthcare or education.

"Until they prove they can run a less shoddy system, ministers must allow asylum seekers to work to support themselves and their families."