Tories have quietly dropped pledge to cut migration below 100,000, crows Nick Clegg in swipe at David Cameron

PM 'so obsessed with the vow that he neglected to bolster basic checks'
Clegg says ministers couldn't deal with immigration system in 'disarray'
His Coalition partners 'came into government with the wrong priority'

Published: 01:07 GMT, 5 August 2014 | Updated: 09:42 GMT, 5 August 2014

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The Tories have secretly dropped their election pledge to reduce net migration to tens of thousands a year, Nick Clegg will say today.

The Deputy Prime Minister will say David Cameron was ‘fixated’ on the target but has now realised he ‘won’t deliver it’.

He risks sparking a Coalition row by saying the PM was so obsessed with the vow that he neglected to bolster basic checks to crack down on illegal immigrants.

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Coalition: Deputy PM Nick Clegg (left) will say PM David Cameron (right) was 'fixated' on the net migration target but has now realised he 'won't deliver it'. They are pictured at their first joint press conference in May 2010

In a speech in London, Mr Clegg will claim ministers could not deal with an immigration system in ‘utter disarray’ because his Coalition partners ‘came into government with the wrong priority’.

‘The Conservatives were completely fixated on the net migration target, and, specifically, their pledge to get it down to tens of thousands – a Tory rallying cry in opposition,’ he is expected to say.

‘I made sure it wasn’t in the Coalition agreement precisely because it’s unrealistic; because it’s based on a fallacy: if a million Brits leave and a million migrants come, you get net migration of zero – does that mean you’ve done the job?’

He will say the Tories have ‘softened their attachment’ to the target. ‘They’ve realised they won’t deliver it. And bluntly it’s made it much easier for us to get things done.’

Mr Clegg’s speech will also claim that after years of stalling, the Conservatives finally got their priorities right – ensuring there were proper border checks to crack down on illegal immigrants and those staying on after their visa has expired.

UK Border: Mr Clegg risks sparking a Coalition row by saying the PM was so obsessed with the vow on net migration that he neglected to bolster basic checks to crack down on illegal immigrants (file picture)

He will say that he intervened to ‘plug the gaps’ in border security – making sure 80 per cent of entry and exit points were covered by proper checks, up from 65 per cent in March last year.

'The Conservatives were completely fixated on the net migration target, and, specifically, their pledge to get it down to tens of thousands – a Tory rallying cry in opposition'

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

But last night the Conservatives denied they had dropped the migration target, claiming the Liberal Democrats had spent the past four years blocking measures to get tougher on immigration.

A Tory source said: ‘We remain committed to our target and have made great progress with non-EU migration.

‘Nick Clegg’s comments are surprising as the Liberal Democrats have never previously raised concerns about controlling immigration. In fact, in private, they’ve sought to block many of measures to control immigration that he’s now advocating.’