Immigration Minister makes embarrassing gaffe

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has been derided by various groups across the UK after claiming that desk-bound immigration are placing their lives on the line for Britain.

The Labour MP, who has a history of statements that have sparked amusement in political sectors, suggested that the management staff at the offices of the UK Border Agency were very brave men and women. The UKBA officials have made headlines for all the wrong reasons of late with their much publicised bungling of thousands of immigration cases. Woolas was immediately labelled as deeply insensitive for suggesting that office working civil servants deserved the same recognition for bravery as those soldiers and staff serving on the front line of actual warfare. Woolas in turn responded that such criticism was contemptible and ridiculous.

The timing of Woolas’ statement was not ideal given that last night saw the Ministry of Defence release details of the 100th UK soldier to die so far this year in Afghanistan. The Immigration Minister had been attempting to deflect criticism aimed at the government after the publication of details which revealed that immigration officials were paid a total of £300,000 in bonuses last year in spite of the ongoing administrative errors.

Woolas confirmed that close to 30 of the UK Border Agency’s senior management were paid bonuses of around £10,000. He called the management team superb and commended them for doing what was alleged to be the most difficult role in the public policy arena.