Hit list warns of 'dangerous' migrants

The Home Office has drawn up a hit list of 45,000 "undesirable" Hungarians and Romanians before the two countries join the European Union next year.

The secret "warnings index" of alleged criminals and possible security risks is intended to alert officials to the identities of people who will be given the legal right to live in Britain after the two countries join the union.

A junior Home Office minister, Joan Ryan, claims that the EU's freedom of movement rules mean they cannot be barred from the UK, so police need to be warned about their identities. The Home Office says that up to 140,000 Bulgarians and Hungarians may migrate to the UK.

The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee has accused the Home Office of "inadequate" enforcement of its own immigration rules, and of being riddled with "structural and operational failures". The MPs reveal in a report today that more than 700 charges of corruption were made against immigration officials in 2004-05, which lead to 31 staff being referred for prosecution.

The committee also called for the courts to be stripped of powers to recommend deportation of foreign criminals; this decision should be left to the Home Office.