This is yet another spin operation. The fall in applications to the UK is less than the fall to the EU generally.
Removals are down, despite the fact only one in five of failed asylum seekers is removed.
The Government are clearly seeking to distract attention from the wider issue of immigration.
Immigration figures issued today show a sharp increase in settlement of 20% in 2003 compared to 2002. Grants for settlement are now at their highest recorded level at 140,000 in 2003 – more than double the 1997 figure of 59,000.