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Councils, though, were more guarded as they dealt with a web of practicalities. As Home Office figures show, three-quarters of those lucky 50,000 live in London, and so it's been tricky to find anyone working in asylum services in the capital who hasn't been either in a meeting or rushing off to one to discuss the implications of David Blunkett's largesse. Of course, many of those covered by the announcement will already be living in homes provided by the council. But the quality of this interim accommodation is a worry, as are the implications for social cohesion if they choose to join the mainstream housing register.

These issues and others were raised at a showdown meeting on Wednesday, at which plans were outlined to review the housing of each and every family concerned (page 9). And there's another reason for keeping the cheers muted: the announcement has a sting in the tail.

It is just the first element of a rethink of the UK's asylum policy. From here on in, anyone from overseas seeking refuge, or even just a shot at a better future, is likely to find that Blunkett has some nasty surprises in store. On Monday it was announced that entry requirements will be tightened and appeals restricted. Loopholes open to unscrupulous applicants will be pulled shut.

From here on in, anyone seeking refuge is likely to find Blunkett has some nasty surprises in store

This will be seen as a welcome injection of sanity by many of those whose desks are swamped with asylum cases on a daily basis. And Whitehall's frustration over the creaking system's intractable complexities has been clear for a while: the recent case where Lord Chief Justice Woolf lambasted the £112,000 spent dealing with one family's prolonged claim for housing since arriving from Lithuania was just one example (HT 24 October, page 9).