The Minister will be aware that one big reason for those delays and backlogs is the fact that immigration officers are trying to meet Government targets instead of doing their proper job. Last night, "Panorama" revealed that the Prime Minister's target of removing more failed asylum seekers than there are new applications took precedence over everything. One immigration officer said:

"We're going to focus purely on failed asylum seekers. Everything else must go out of the window."

Will the Minister admit that chasing a narrow target means that backlogs build up and dangerous criminals are let out on the streets, and that meeting the Prime Minister's target has become more important than running an efficient, firm and fair immigration system?