A rapid-reaction force of EU border guards should be created to protect weak points in Europe's frontiers as part of an asylum crackdown, the UK will argue at a European council today.

David Blunkett will also argue for EU aid to be conditional on efforts to halt illegal immigration and the return of deported migrants whose refugee claims have failed.

But the approach is likely to spark anger amongst Labour backbenchers and some ministers, with international development secretary Clare Short vocal in her criticism of grants for poor countries being tied to Western concerns over immigration.

The European Commission has dismissed an aid to asylum linkage as "counter-productive and meaningless".