Fury as minister says UK troops are fighting in Afghanistan to stop immigrants coming to Britain



Phil Woolas claimed that British troops are fighting in Afghanistan to control immigration

Phil Woolas provoked fury yesterday by claiming British troops are fighting in Afghanistan in part to keep immigration under control.

The gaffe-prone Home Office Minister told MPs the number of asylum seekers coming to the UK would 'significantly increase' if troops were withdrawn.

The Taliban would take over and large numbers of Afghans would flee to Britain to claim refugee status, he said.

During a meeting of the home affairs select committee, Mr Woolas said: 'If this country and others were to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban were able to take control of Afghanistan our evidence is that the number of asylum seekers coming to the EU would significantly increase.

'An argument that is not aired strongly enough in my view is the benefit of the presence of our armed forces and other countries is to help us control immigration.'

Former Army officer and Tory MP Patrick Mercer said the comments - made on the day five British soldiers were murdered - were 'extraordinary' and 'unpalatable'.

He added: 'Armed forces are for the conduct of war in all its phases. They are not there to control immigration.

'This is yet another distortion of what our troops are trying to achieve in this theatre.'



Casualties are brought into a hospital at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, after five British soldiers were shot dead in an attack yesterday. This picture was approved by the MoD

Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: 'On a day when so many soldiers have lost their lives, for a Minister to say that the war in Afghanistan helps make it easier to control immigration is pretty crass.

'We all know that Labour's immigration policy is in a mess. This kind of comment really proves that Ministers at the Home Office have little idea of how to control our borders.'



Mr Woolas had been responding to a question from the home affairs select committee about whether members of the Taliban had successfully claimed asylum in Britain.

The immigration minister said he did not know the answer, as people 'who claim asylum tend not to tell us if they are a member of the Taliban'.

Liberal democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'Phil Woolas's point is tasteless and disrespectful on a day when five of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan have lost their lives.

'He just underlines that the Government does not have clear objectives in this conflict and we need urgently to be told the strategy for success.'