NICK Clegg will today attack David Cameron's "fixation" with cutting net migration to tens of thousands, suggesting it is hindering efforts on illegal immigration.
The intervention by the Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader comes just weeks after his party's Business Secretary Vince Cable triggered a cabinet row by saying the target was damaging the economy.
Mr Clegg is also expected to use a speech later today to say migrants from new EU countries should have to wait more than seven years before they can work in the UK.
He will also promise a clampdown on sham marriages.
Labour last night accused Mr Clegg of failing to act on immigration controls during his four years in office.
In his speech, Mr Clegg will say the Tory obsession with the target stopped ministers focussing on a more important issue - effective border controls.
He will accuse his Tory colleagues of having quietly backed away from pledges on exit checks, as he promises to put them in his party's manifesto for next year's general election.
Mr Clegg will say: "We can marry our ideals about the open, welcoming Britain we love with the realities of running a effective immigration system.
"We can keep Britain open-hearted, open-minded and open-for-business and at the same time ensure our hospitality isn't open to abuse. It just takes a lot of work."
He will also claim the Conservatives have now "softened their attachment" to the net migration target, pointing out it was missing from an article the Prime Minister wrote on immigration last week. But he will say more needs to be done to eradicate illegal immigration.
Part of the problem is people arriving legitimately but then overstaying their visa, he will warn. But without exit checks it is impossible to tell who has left and who has stayed.
He will also claim that before the 2010 election around 57 per cent of entry and exit points were covered by such checks, a figure which has risen to 80 per cent.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article