BBC: Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has accused the Office for National Statistics of "playing politics" with population figures.
He said he was "appalled" at the release of figures showing one in nine British residents was born abroad.
In a letter Mr Woolas describes the decision to release the data as "at best naive or, at worst, sinister".
The Tories have accused the government of "bullying" the ONS and trying to "suppress" embarrassing information.
And Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the Home Office should get their "tanks off the statisticians' lawn".
The ONS declined to comment on Mr Woolas's intervention.
Downing Street denied the government was trying to intimidate the statistics body, saying the prime minister fully supported its independence.
But the prime minister's official spokesman said the ONS had to be aware of "the sensitivities" surrounding the immigration debate and the government was "questioning" the timing of the release of data which "can have a political bearing". >>> | Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>
