MICHAEL HOWARD will today put immigration and asylum at the heart of the Tories’ election campaign with a call for limits on immigration and quotas for asylum seekers.

The Tory leader risks accusations that he is playing the “race card” in what appears to be a calculated political gamble. Opinion polls have continually shown that the Conservatives are failing to close the gap on Labour and are heading for a third successive defeat.

Howard’s move will bring back memories of the desperate attempts at the last election by William Hague, the former Tory leader, to kickstart the Tory campaign by making a big push on asylum and immigration.

However, Howard believes that he can capitalise on what he claims is Labour’s failure to stem the flood of immigrants and secure Britain’s borders, as figures show that immigration has doubled under Tony Blair’s government. Privately, Labour figures have acknowledged for some time that the issue is their Achilles heel.

The Tory leader has taken out a personalised full-page newspaper advertisement to make his point. Under the headline “I believe we must limit immigration”, he says: “Some people say this is racist. It’s not. It’s common sense. Only my party has the courage to tell the truth about immigration, and the courage to act.”

In a pre-recorded interview for GMTV’s Sunday Programme today, he adds: “There are a quarter of a million people whose asylum claims have failed but haven’t been removed. The key to being able to remove failed asylum seekers is to bring the number who come into the country under control.”

He says only a small proportion of those who claim asylum in Britain are genuine refugees and under his plans the Tories would simply take a quota of people from those in the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Howard is also in favour of an Australian-style “points system” for work permits. Those with the skills that Britain needs would be given priority.

Meanwhile, a leaked Home Office document shows that asylum seekers have contributed to rising street crime and may be a factor in the spread of Aids in Britain.

The paper, which outlines the challenges for immigration policy, provides evidence for the first time that the government has formally linked asylum seekers with the number of muggings. The document noted: “Government concerned over level of street crime, in particular robbery, which has increased.

“Suggested asylum seekers may be partly responsible for this rise and immigration service is resourcing this work to identify failed asylum seekers who can be removed from UK.

“This is aimed at reducing street crime and contributing to asylum removals target.”

The briefing paper. written for Bill Jeffrey, director- general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, paints a picture of “inexperienced” managers hampered by “immature” Home Office policies. It criticises ministers for committing the service to “unattainable” targets in the Labour election manifesto.

The paper was written two years ago and covers the years from 2003 to 2006. It undermines Labour’s repeated efforts to play down an issue that threatens to lose the party votes at the general election, which is expected in May.

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