Illegal immigration cannot be tackled with "knee-jerk gimmicks"

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 14th Jun 2002

Baroness Sarah Ludford, European Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on justice and home affairs, has welcomed the rebuff given to David Blunkett by fellow EU immigration ministers over his plan to cut development aid to countries which fail to stem migration. Earlier this week the European Parliament backed her own proposal to reject such a plan during a meeting in Strasbourg.

She said: "I hope Tony Blair will also climb down on his equally crazy 'gun boats in the Med' idea, and not push such projects at the EU summit in Seville next week."

"Tackling illegal immigration must be part of a comprehensive, sensible package of asylum and immigration measures, not knee-jerk gimmicks."

"The truth is that the UK government is one of the principal blockages to such a package, because it insists on opt-outs, so it's a bit rich of Blunkett and Blair to castigate delays in Brussels."