'UK immigration system failing'

Britain's new Interior Minister said yesterday his failing department needed a fundamental overhaul after a prisoner scandal forced out his predecessor and damaged Prime Minister Tony Blair's standing.

Home Secretary John Reid, a key Blair ally, said the Home Office (interior ministry) was unfit to cope with immigration, one of Britain's most sensitive political issues.

The sprawling department, which handles security, prisons and immigration, has been shaken by a string of scandals which have piled pressure on the government.

Mr Blair said the release of more than 1,000 foreign prisoners who should have been considered for deportation showed up a "systemic failure" at the ministry. He sacked Mr Reid's predecessor Charles Clarke over the debacle. The opposition Conservative Party said the department was "in danger of meltdown", while Mr Reid promised sweeping changes.

"Our system is not fit for purpose," Mr Reid told lawmakers. "It is inadequate in terms of its scope, it is inadequate in terms of its information technology, leadership, management, systems and processes."

The foreign prisoner debacle has focused attention on the failings of one of Britain's biggest and most diverse government departments, dogged by negative publicity for months.

Newspapers have detailed every new twist, from illegal immigrants working in the immigration department to allegations officials ran a sex-for-visas racket. On Monday, the Home Office said Immigration Minister Tony McNulty had been moved to cover policing - a move the Conservatives called an admission of failure.

The Daily Mirror's front page headline yesterday branded the department the "Ministry of Mayhem".

In one of the most damaging episodes, an immigration service chief caused uproar when he said he didn't have "the faintest idea" how many illegal immigrants there are in Britain.

The British media seized on a story that five illegal immigrants worked as cleaners at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the unit which handles migration into Britain.

Last weekend, the Home Office said it had wrongly branded 1,500 innocent people as criminals in a computer mix-up.

It also said it had suspended an official over allegations a female asylum seeker had been offered help in her application to stay in Britain in exchange for sex.

Staff at the ministry could lose their jobs as part of a "full and fundamental overhaul", Mr Reid said.

Mr Reid gave more details of the bungled prisoner release earlier yesterday.

About 85 foreigners convicted for serious offences remain at large. Eight of the most serious went on to commit more crime but all four freed murderers were now back in prison.