Home Office minister Beverley Hughes came out fighting amid Tory calls for her resignation yesterday.

The fightback came as the Conservatives held a Commons debate in the wake of fresh accusations of chaos in her department's immigration system.

During the debate the minister insisted she would not resign - saying she had done nothing wrong.

"I am not resigning. I am not incompetent, nor did I lie," she told MPs.

But the home secretary has been forced to suspend all immigration applications from Romania and Bulgaria in light of the latest revelations of malpractice in the Immigration and Nationality Department.

The government stood by Hughes throughout the row and won by 378 votes to 156.