John Wadham, director of Liberty:

"Making it possible to send people back to face torture and death in countries like Iraq cannot possibly be the right answer.

This Government says it wants to promote human rights abroad; and it has just published a dossier detailing the hideous brutality of Iraq's regime against its own people - yet this is the type of country it wants to send people back to.

"The Government already has all the powers it could need. It can deport the overwhelming majority of people who have failed in their asylum claims. It can deport people it suspects are 'not conducive to the public good'. It can even lock up without charge or trial any foreign national it deems a 'terrorist suspect' and cannot deport.

"The root problem in the immigration system is bureaucratic inefficiency. Home Office incompetence leads to endless case adjournments; Home Office incompetence means large numbers of people who can legitimately be deported aren't. Mr Blair is throwing a smokescreen over under-resourcing and ineptitude in the system - and in doing so he's threatening the most basic humane protections, and potentially putting innocent lives at risk".