Record numbers given UK citizenship

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Government data revealed 164,635 foreign nationals became British, up 7% on the previous 12 months.

The number outstripped the previous record of 161,700 set in 2005, when there was a rush to beat the new tests on Britishness and the ability to speak English.

Separate figures showed there was a 16% rise in asylum applications in the first three months of this year, to 6,595, compared with the same period in 2007.

A mass of statistical documents issued by the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics also showed a 13% fall in the number of failed asylum seekers deported from January to March, to 2,805.

The total number of people removed from the country - including other categories of people such as foreign criminals - was up 12% to 16,760, the figures showed.

Britain also received the largest number of asylum applications in Europe in the first three months of this year - 7,700 including dependants, 300 more than France which was the second most popular destination.

Foreign workers now make up 12.5% of the workforce - 3.7 million people were born outside the UK compared with 1.9 million in 1997;

In the citizenship figures, 31% of those becoming British had previously held African nationality and Asians accounted for 22%.

Nationalities with the largest numbers of grants were Indian with 14,490, Filipino (10,840), Afghan (10,555), South African (8,150) and Pakistani (8,140). Afghans were the fastest-growing group with a 211% rise on the previous year.