DAVID BLUNKETT has revealed he wanted to bring in laws to protect immigrant workers before the deaths of 21 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay — but was blocked by Patricia Hewitt’s officials at the Department of Trade and Industry.

Blunkett claims he was “ahead of the game” on the problem of gangmasters but Hewitt’s department objected to his proposals. Blunkett has already said that Hewitt does not think “strategically”.

In a new biography, Blunkett says he realised gangmasters were a serious problem. “On so many fronts we are ahead of the game and on every single one of them the inertia and the problems of working across Whitehall have actually stopped us achieving our goal,” he said “Take the gangmasters. We were working on it months before the cockle pickers died. We tried to get agreement to put something in the asylum bill, but it was blocked by the DTI.”

In February this year, 21 Chinese workers drowned when they were trapped by the incoming tide at Morecambe Bay. The tragedy highlighted the issue of low-paid immigrant workers being exploited by gangmasters.

A House of Commons committee warned in 2003 that the government was failing to tackle the problem. The committee’s report stated: “We are appalled by the lack of priority given to, and political accountability for, what is supposed to be the government’s co-ordinated response to illegal activity by gangmasters.”

Geraldine Smith, a local MP, warned the Home Office of the potential dangers facing cockle pickers, but was told there were not enough resources to tackle the problem. Blunkett, however, has now revealed he wanted to introduce tougher laws to protect the workers.

“If Blunkett was trying to push something through, it’s a disgrace if it was blocked by the DTI,” she said.

Austin Mitchell, a member of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, said he was “very surprised” by Blunkett’s claim. “We found the government was aware of this issue but wasn’t doing very much about it,” he said. “It’s possible Blunkett was trying to do something, but I wasn’t aware of it.”

Last week it was revealed how Blunkett had made a series of scathing assessments of his cabinet colleagues. A new biography by Stephen Pollard details his frustration with ministers and government departments that thwart his policies.

The book suggests the departure of Lord Irvine, the lord chancellor, from the government was partly because of his criticism of Blunkett’s policies on crime. The home secretary was particularly irked that Irvine called his measures to combat antisocial behaviour as an “extreme example of the nanny state”.

Blunkett also criticises Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, for panicking about the impact of new states joining the European Union.

Blunkett, according to his biographer, “seemed to be managing to keep ahead of the game”. While the book is a sympathetic one, the portrait of Blunkett the “über-politician” is unlikely to appeal to his cabinet colleagues.

IMMIGRANT LEAP

Britain’s population could rise by 11m over the next 50 years, according to a projection included in a Treasury report, writes Andrew Porter.

The report shows civil servants are making contingency plans for an influx of 14m new arrivals. It is expected that over the same 50-year period the indigenous population will fall by 3m because of a decline in fertility rates.

The new figures, in an annex to the pre-budget report delivered two weeks ago, says the new rate of immigration will be 285,000 a year.

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