Diplomat suspended for e-mail on visa loopholes

Key points

• Further problems for Beverley Hughes, Home Office minister

• Diplomat suspended for exposing loopholes in immigration policy

• New suspension follows that of 'whistleblower' Steve Moxon for similar revelations

Key quote

"When entry clearance officers write to Sheffield and state clearly that the application is being supported with forged and counterfeit documents, the letters are ignored and the ECAA applications are still being issued." - Suspended diplomat, James Cameron

Story in full THE crisis engulfing Beverley Hughes, the Home Office minister, intensified last night when it emerged a diplomat had been suspended for exposing serious loopholes in the government’s immigration policy.

James Cameron, a Scot who is the British Consul in Bucharest, was frozen out of his job after it was revealed he had e-mailed the Conservatives about his concerns.

In his deeply damaging e-mail, Mr Cameron alleged that fast-tracking applications for the ten accession countries joining the European Union in May was only the "tip of the iceberg".

His suspension followed hard on the heels of the controversial decision to suspend the civil service whistleblower Steve Moxon, who exposed how immigration checks were being waived on eastern Europeans to clear massive backlogs.

Ms Hughes is under enormous pressure to resign and will today face tough questions from Opposition MPs over the latest debacle within her department.

In his e-mail, Mr Cameron, of Glasgow, predicted a flood of bogus immigration applications from countries due to join the EU in 2007.

Mr Cameron wrote: "What you said and the government acknowledged on allowing the ten countries’ nationals in without further checks is also being applied to those countries on the next accession list, including Bulgaria and Romania."

He said entry clearance officers in Sheffield ignored warnings from consulates in Bulgaria and Romania that many of the applications were being supported with forged and counterfeit documents, and added that "no right-minded" immigration officer would consider issuing a visa to these applicants but "unfortunately" they were nearly always successful.

"Both countries [Bulgaria and Romania] were, until 1 March, overwhelmed with badly prepared and bogus ECAA [European Conformity Assessment Agreement] applications.

"When entry clearance officers write to Sheffield and state clearly that the application is being supported with forged and counterfeit documents, the letters are ignored and the ECAA applications are still being issued," he wrote.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary who received the e-mail, said the decision to suspend the consul "beggared belief" and demanded guidance on how MPs could protect civil servants from being penalised for raising matters of concern.

"The government’s attempts to cover up information this man sent me knows no bounds," he said.

"After smearing one civil servant, they now suspend a British Consul for doing what he feels is his public duty - namely telling Parliament what Beverley Hughes left out of her account of the whole immigration system.

"It beggars belief and goes to the heart of what this government truly stands for."

Ms Hughes said last night she was outraged and appalled that Mr Davis had exposed the e-mail. She accused him of trying to "keep this story going and to do more damage to the government".

As the pressure piled on to Ms Hughes, she was defended by David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, who promised the Tories would not get their "scalp".

He also questioned why the Conservatives had not released the e-mail immediately upon receiving it from Mr Cameron on 8 March.

However, the escalating crisis attaching itself to Ms Hughes may yet spell the end of her ministerial career, as rumours wash round Westminster of further embarrassing disclosures.

Mr Davis said Ms Hughes had misled MPs about the extent of the practice of fast-tracking immigration applications: "The minister told us this problem was confined to a narrow single group in Sheffield, only about a single type of immigration, done by junior staff, not approved by her. This memo demonstrates that every single one of those statements was wrong," he said.

It was not the first time Mr Cameron has been embroiled in controversy. In September last year, he bore the brunt of stinging criticism from Scotland’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric who was robbed and left stranded while visiting Romania.

Keith O’Brien, then the archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, complained that Mr Cameron had neither met him and his party nor apologised after they were attacked during a visit to an orphanage.