Has Jack been conned?

Where was the Home Secretary then? We didn't get the organ-grinder. Instead, the First Minister negotiated a deal with the monkey. It may look good at first sight, but has anything changed other than the re-location to Scotland of some officials from the Immigration and Nationality Department? The Scotsman reports:

THE number of dawn raids on asylum seekers in Scotland is to be reduced, the government said yesterday as it announced the creation of two specialist immigration teams.
The forced removal of asylum seekers and their children has led to outcry in Scotland. Now, following meetings with the First Minister, Jack McConnell, the immigration minister, Liam Byrne, said new powers would be handed to Scotland.
Two teams based in Glasgow will process applications north of the Border for the first time and ensure every family has a lead official to see the case through from beginning to end. More than 3,000 people in Scotland are facing deportation.
Mr Byrne said the new squads would ensure a decision is reached within six months on each case. It is hoped a closer relationship with immigration officials will mean more asylum seekers are persuaded to leave the country voluntarily, reducing the need for dawn raids.
However, Mr Byrne insisted Britain would not become a "soft touch" for asylum seekers and dawn raids would still be necessary as a "last resort".

What, for example, has happened to the proposed protocol whereby a "lead professional" from a health, social work or education background would oversee each case? Not mentioned yesterday, so it has presumably been dropped.

As far as I can see, the Home Office has not made any significant changes to either its policy or its practice. Arguably, it has resiled from previous pledges to co-operate with Scottish authorities. So expect the dawn raids to continue.