NO one likes a buck-passer and there was certainly an element of that from the Prime Minister yesterday as he desperately tried to deflect criticism from the Government over its failure to deport foreign criminals.

Tony Blair told the Commons that the freeing of 1,023 foreign prisoners, without them being considered for deportation, had resulted from decades of failings.

Tory leader David Cameron described the explanation as "pathetic" and it certainly isn't good enough.

Flaws in the system may well have preceded the Blair administration. So did flaws in the health and education service but it hasn't stopped the present Government tackling them - or crowing about the progress that has been made.

Whatever failings were inherited by the Home Office in procedures for deporting foreign offenders, the Government has had nine years to sort them out.

The fact remains that hundreds of prisoners have been freed on Mr Blair's watch, under the Home Secretary he appointed, and 38 serious offenders have yet to be tracked down.

The problem may not have begun under Charles Clarke but it has certainly been allowed to fester under him and his credibility as Home Secretary is shot as a result.

We are assured that the tough new proposals announced yesterday will shake up the system under which foreign prisoners are deported. The stable door has, hopefully, been shut before any more horses can bolt.

Tonight, as the local election results become clear, we will start to get a feel for just how much damage has been done by those which are already running free.