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"As a result of new legislation and other action, asylum claims have fallen 70 per cent since their peak in 2002 – a rate of reduction twice that achieved in the rest of Europe. Claims are now at the level of 1997 and we must get them down further.

"Closing Sangatte, the hi-tech screening of freight lorries at Calais, winning agreement for UK immigration officers to work on French soil, fast-track processing, and restricting benefits to those denied asylum have all played a part in the reduction in numbers. So has extra investment in both staff and new equipment.

"It is not only applications that are down. Four out of five claims are now decided in two months rather than the 20 months we inherited. The backlog of claims is at a 10 year low. The cost of supporting asylum seekers while their claims are heard is steadily falling.

"We were right to concentrate first on reducing unfounded applications. But David Blunkett and I also accept that we have to increase efforts to remove those who remain in this country when their applications have failed.

"Thankfully we have been making significant progress. We are removing a far greater number of failed asylum seekers, though not enough. We are gradually closing the gap between the number of failed asylum applicants and the number removed. In 1996, the number of removals was equivalent to only 20 per cent of unsuccessful claims. So far this year, that proportion is almost 50 per cent.

"But I accept we need to do a great deal more. It can make a mockery of our asylum system if those properly denied the right to stay simply flout this decision and remain. It is unfair to those who play by the rules and sends the wrong message to those who may try to come to this country without genuine cause. It undermines public faith in the system.

"Building on our success in reducing applications, we now want a step change in the number of failed applicants who leave this country. By the end of next year, we want the monthly rate of removals to exceed the number of unfounded applications so that we start making in-roads into the backlog."

"Every country in the EU has to face a complex set of problems in trying to remove people. The moves we are announcing today are part of a systematic attempt to try to un-block some of those problems.

"The new offences of destroying documents and failing to co-operate with re-documentation and subsequent removal should act both as a deterrent, as we continue to crack down on unfounded applications for asylum, and help us remove those who have no right to be in the UK.

"The new offences are part of a number of measures we are taking, including liaising with foreign governments to get them to accept back their own citizens, increasing surveillance at ports, stepping up enforcement activity and expanding secure accommodation for those awaiting removal.

"We have made real progress on removing those whose claims are refused - more than double the number in 1997. But the fact that a majority of claimants deliberately destroy or throw away the documents which prove their nationality is one of the biggest obstacles to further progress.

"Many criminal traffickers will tell people to destroy their documents and mislead the authorities. At the end of the process we then have to try to obtain a travel document and acceptance by the country of origin for people to allow their return. None of this is acceptable.

"Today we are sending a clear signal to people coming into this country. If you are a genuine asylum seeker you have nothing to fear by retaining your documents. If you destroy those documents we will penalise you and it will have an adverse impact on your claim for asylum.

"The official opening of Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre this week shows we are continuing to put the capacity in place to step up removals."