Security at the UK’s borders has got “substantially worse” under the Coalition, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned.

Speaking at Home Office Questions, Ms Cooper urged Theresa May to “get a grip” after a serious of “failures” at Britain’s airports.

Ms Cooper said the numbers of people absconding at border control or escaping from detention or disappearing has “more than doubled since the election”.

“The problem has got worse since the election, very substantially. Time and again it is getting worse, month-on-month, not better,” she said.

“Isn’t the truth that this is another example of failing border control and weaker action on illegal immigration on her watch?

“We’ve got controls downgraded hundreds of times, hundreds of staff being cut and then at the last minute re-recruited…will she get a grip?”

However the Home Secretary hit back, claiming the Government was “putting right” the problems that grew up under Labour.

“It is this government that is actually the one government that is putting in place controls in our immigration system - it was the last Labour government that allowed people to come in without any controls on the immigration system,” she said.

“It’s about time the Labour party accepted responsibility for what they did when they were in government.”

The Mail on Sunday reports that clerical staff are being given three days' training before being drafted in to man airport immigration desks during the Olympic Games.

Yvette Cooper, shadow Home Secretary, said the Government is taking a risk with Britain's security. “The Government have had years to plan for the Olympics and to train up the necessary staff needed...drafting in poorly trained staff at the last minute to cover the entire summer pressures and Olympics is taking risks with our security and with the country's reputation at a time when the whole world's eyes will be on us."

The immigration service continues to detain child asylum seekers, a report by the Refugee Council will allege this week. The report says officials are wrongly classifying children as adults in spite of a Government pledge two years ago to end child detention.

Abu Qatada's application for bail will be heard on 28 May by a senior immigration judge, according to the Judicial Communications Office.

Currently held in a high-security prison, Mr Qatada is hoping to walk free by the end of the month.

The Home Office says it still believes he poses a real risk to national security.

His lawyers have warned the political situation in Jordan has worsened since his last appeal, which may cast fresh doubt on the UK's ability to deport him.

A survey of civil servants has found that those working in the Home Office are the most demoralised, with two-thirds claiming the department was being harmed by "incompetent" staff.

Actress Joan Collins has launched a Twitter attack on the Home Secretary telling her to "listen up" and recruit more staff at Heathrow airport.

Dame Joan was returning to the UK from America and tweeted that "100s were waiting' at passport control as she returned to the UK today.

A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said the Government was "working to improve the efficiency of the border service."

Her criticism came after MPs criticised Immigration officials for presiding over "complete chaos" over changes to student visas.

The Public Accounts Committee made the claims about the UK Border Agency. Immigration Minister Damian Green is also due to appear before MPs today to explain queues at airport immigration desks.

A leading thinktank today suggested that the Government has been playing an 'immigration numbers game' by including overseas students in its migration count.

The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that by refusing to exclude international students from its drive to reduce net migration, the Government was damaging British education and costing at least £4bn in benefits to the economy.

Children detained during immigration at Heathrow are being held in "degrading and disgraceful" conditions, a new report has found.

The airport's Independent Monitoring Board found in its annual report that children were being held in small rooms without natural light.

The UK Border Force is facing fresh criticism after it was accused of relaxing controls on electronic passport gates during busy times to minimise queues. The Immigration Services Union has alleged the strength of checks carried out at the gates is reduced during peak times to lessen the amount of false alerts. The Border Force has denied the claims and rejected calls for an investigation, insisting that the gates “provide a safe and secure method for passengers to cross the border”.

People will lose the full right to appeal against being refused visas to visit family members in Britain, Damian Green has announced. The Immigration Minister said in an interview with The Times the system was a “game” for those trying to stay in the UK permanently, which he described as “a classic example of unintended consequences of bad policy”. But Labour MP Keith Vaz said the move would have a "devestating effect" on Asian families in Britain. In the same interview, Mr Green said British businesses are “addicted to immigration”.

Long queues at Heathrow have been caused by a lack of resources and ineffective planning amid job cuts, inspectors have said.

Limited resources were not being matched to demand at the airport and there was "simply far too much organisational change during the busiest time of the year", according to the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration John Vine.

But Mr Vine told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the problems were not due to low staffing.

"This organisation is nearly 8,000 strong round the UK, so there are resources there. I think it’s as much about how they’re deployed as anything else."

The report comes as staff from two unions go on strike today over the Government's pension reforms.

The collapse of a computer system which handles applications for people wishing to extend their stay in the UK has put more pressure on Theresa May to address issues with Britain's immigration services. The blow for the embattled Home Secretary comes days after the Prime Minister told her to "get a grip" on queues at Heathrow of up to three hours.

BAA figures showed the UK Border Force has failed to meet targets for processing arrivals from outside the eurozone at Heathrow in April.

The British Airports Authority said the UK Border Force missed its target 24% of the time in April, but met its 25-minute target for EEA and Swiss arrivals 95% of the time.

Labour's Shadow Immigration Minister Chris Bryant accused the Immigration Minister of “complacency”.

“Damian Green's complacency in Parliament on Monday has now shown to be completely misplaced. The Government must get a grip or they will undermine our border security, our business reputation and the British tourism industry.”

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Clearly, the cuts already made in UK Border Agency have had a major impact and further cuts planned every year until 2015 will make the situation even worse."

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK Border Agency and Border Force were "lurching from shambles to shambles", and argued that "Instead of getting a grip, the Government just keeps making it worse."