Cover-up claim over letting in 1.5m Turks

DOWNING Street was last night accused of hoodwinking voters over plans to let 1.5million Turks come to Britain.

UK officials have secretly discussed visa-free access to Britain to ease an agreement with Ankara to shut down migrant routes.

Under the deal, Brussels wants to grant all Turkish citizens 90-day travel rights in the Schengen zone. Although this would not apply to Britain, the leaked cables show UK officials have talked of granting the same rights to 1.5million ‘special’ Turkish passport holders.

Tory former defence secretary Liam Fox said: ‘We are not being given the full facts – this is an attempt to hoodwink voters about the risks of staying. They must come clean and tell us what else is being withheld from the British people.’

The Prime Minister, who has championed Turkey’s membership of the EU, yesterday dismissed the claims, saying

‘An attempt to hoodwink voters’

the country was not on course to join ‘until the year 3000’.

But Justice Secretary Michael Gove said: ‘Later this year, if EU plans are implemented, we’ll have visa-free travel for 77million Turks throughout Europe. It appears from this diplomatic telegram today there are suggestions that some special Turkish passport holders will be allowed to come to the UK as well.

‘The evidence is that the British Government and the EU are actively working toward Turkey joining the EU and Turkish citizens being able to travel throughout the EU.’

Leave backers claim other issues, such as the creation of an EU army and extending the reach of Brussels on economic matters, have also been postponed.

But a Government source said: ‘These are yet more ludicrous conspiracy theories from the Leave campaign.’

Home Secretary Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond issued a statement saying the idea of opening up Britain to Turks was ‘untrue’.

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