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  Roger, I found it difficult to believe that IDS would be as naive and stupid as Howard suggests. I have now found the document to which he refers and indeed it is not as daft as his 'red top' version says.
  
  It is a paper produce by IDS' think tank, not by him in his policy advisory role, so it even furher from Party policy than I thought.
  
  I quote a very small section:
  "The British government is using forced destitution as a means of encouraging people to leave voluntarily. It is a failed policy. UK policy is still driven by the thesis, clearly falsified, that we can encourage people to leave by being nasty. The result is that we rely heavily on forcible return, which is both very costly and time-consuming, and engages only a small proportion of those whose claims are refused. This system gives refused asylum seekers good reason to abscond and little reason to engage with officialdom."
  
  It goes on to point out that only 1 in 5 failed asylum seekers return home under this policy leaving the cost of enforced repatriation to be an average of £11,000 per person.
  
  This is because they go into hiding and are forced to find work in prostitution, drugs and other criminal activity and hence add to a huge hidden cost to the taxpayer.
  
  The report then looks at Sweden where 4 in 5 return home voluntarily in contrast to the UK. They found that by offfering limited work permits and limited social benefits they are encouraged to 'engage with officialdom' significantly reducing the numbers absconding and increasing returnees.
  
  IDS also identified the need to speed up the process of repatriation.
  
  They believe that the overall cost to the taxpayer would reduce.
  
  Personally I am uncomfortable about hand-out and work permits to these people and would much prefer that they are simply sent back when they arrive without leaving the airport of Port. The only exceptions should be those arriving from 'unsafe' countries who can then substantiate the danger that they face in their country of origin. If we do have to let them in then the IDS report makes some sense and I say that through gritted teeth.

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