The Conservatives have announced they would wage a new war on illegal immigration if they form the next government.

Shadow home secretary David Davis told delegates that "uncontrolled immigration endangers the values that we in Britain rightly treasure".

"We must act to secure the future - including the future of our settled immigrant populations - before it is too late," he said.

His declaration did not win the full backing of his colleagues however.

One "senior Tory" told the Guardian: "That sent a shiver down my spine. That is not the message we should be sending out."

One shadow minister added that Davis had: "Come close to breaching the line of acceptability. There was a context for this speech, which is a pre-election conference. But we will need to keep an eye on him."

Reaffirming his faith in the role of prisons, Davis also said he would end the early release scheme, build more jails and increase the proportion of spending on education.

Slamming David Blunkett's "weekend jail" scheme for low-level offenders he insisted: "Prison does work, it is a deterrent and criminals fear it."