Although a Home Office inquiry cleared Ms Hughes of knowing about it, her position was undermined by a revelation at the weekend that she authorised a separate policy to clear a backlog of applications to enter Britain by approving where possible those more than three months old.Mr Cameron told the shadow Home Secretary: “[Romania and Bulgaria] were until 1 March overwhelmed with badly prepared and bogus 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.” He said some lawyers were charging between £1,000 and £3,000 to prepare applications. From 1 March, applicants could write direct to Sheffield, bypassing a British embassy. Steve Moxon was suspended from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in Sheffield after saying that his unit had been told to waive checks on applications from the eight countries, in a suspected attempt to massage the figures. He said the system also applied to Romania and Bulgaria, which are due to join the EU in 2007.It is the second time in recent weeks that a whistle-blower has alleged that applications for British residency by Eastern Europeans have been secretly fast-tracked.

Beverley Hughes, the embattled Immigration minister, was accused of another cover-up yesterday after a consular official was suspended for alleging that the Government was allowing Eastern Europeans to enter Britain with forged documents. Mr Blair and senior ministers will attempt to focus on his role in introducing the poll tax while Local Government minister, presiding over soaring jobless figures as Secretary of State for Employment and suffering a series of embarrassing prison escapes when he was Home Secretary.. He said: “It is sheer hypocrisy for Michael Howard to call for the resignation of Beverley Hughes for overseeing the same arrangements that he presided over himself as Home Secretary.”With the Tories believing asylum and immigration have the potential to damage the Government, Labour will be anxious to accuse Mr Howard of opportunism on the issue. They may also turn the spotlight on his four-year spell as Home Secretary.

Labour alleges that during that time the Conservatives lost control of the immigration system.Mr Blunkett took his officials by surprise yesterday when he ordered the release of details of how current and previous ministers had tackled the issue of immigration backlogs.Ms Hughes said: “The backlog clearance exercises that go on periodically are part of good management and they took place under Michael Howard.”Labour plans to make Mr Howard’s record in office under Margaret Thatcher and John Major a theme of its campaign attack on the Tories in the general election expected next year. Michael Howard, who has demanded the sacking of the Immigration minister, Beverley Hughes, came under fire for “sheer hypocrisy” yesterday after it emerged that he authorised a scheme to fast-track immigration applications while he was Home Secretary. He said he had been told by a Labour MP that Conservatives were “cock-a-hoop and with a spring in their step” because they had “managed to pull the wool over the eyes of Labour rebels” over the effect of the amendment.Dr Gibson said tomorrow’s vote on tuition fees – the third and final reading of the Bill – was “too close to call”, raising the prospect of a humiliating defeat for Tony Blair, despite his Commons majority of more than 160 Downing Street also said the result would be “tight”. Professor Gillian Slater, the vice-chancellor of Bournemouth University, said top-up fees would create a two-tier university system.Under the Bill’s proposals, universities would be allowed to charge a maximum top-up fee of £3,000 a year from 2006, students would be exempt from paying the current up-front fees of £1,125 a year and grants would be introduced for the poorest students – of up to £2,700 a year..