Keir Starmer is facing an angry backlash over Labour’s crackdown on illegal workers, which has been promoted in a series of government videos.
Thousands of migrants illegally employed across the UK have been arrested as part of a wider government plan to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.
In a move critics believe is meant to appease supporters of the right-wing Reform UK party, the government has also advertised this immigration blitz by sharing footage showing border officials carrying out operations.
The Home Office says immigration enforcement officers have apprehended 3,930 people working illegally across 5,424 visits between Labour’s first day in office on July 5 and January 31.
That is a 38% increase compared to the previous 12 months, when the Conservatives were still in charge.
The government says people have been lured to the UK on false promises, encouraged to make dangerous journeys here only to live in squalid conditions and work for employers who exploit them.
Labour’s crackdown comes as its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is set to be debated in the Commons later today.
If it passes, police and enforcement will be granted a raft of new powers such as seize electronic devices before an arrest, and anyone handling boat parts suspects of being used in the Channel crossings could face up to 14 years in prison.
It also comes as Reform UK, who promised to freeze most non-essential immigration last year, have crept up the opinion polls in recent months.
Opinium for The Observer found at the weekend that Labour is on 27%, Reform on 26% and the Tories on 22%.
But the government’s move has already attracted criticism from within the Labour Party.
Labour veteran MP, Diane Abbott, suggested the enforcement push stemmed from the new MPs in the so-called red wall panicking about Reform gaining on them in the polls, but warned that acting like the party was not the right response.
“Trying to present ourselves as Reform-lite is a big mistake,” Abbott told the Guardian. “All you do is give legitimacy to their agenda and encourage people to vote for the real thing.”
Human rights group Liberty has also criticised Labour’s crackdown.
The campaign group says its borders’ bill establishes a “dangerous precedent” in using counter-terror-style powers for offences which are not terrorism, especially when there are already insufficient safeguards to protect people from being prosecuted “needlessly”.
Meanwhile, the International Rescue Committee UK welcomed Labour’s pledge to reform the asylum system, but said safe routes must be set up for people fleeing conflict and persecution.
IRC advoacy director Denise Delic said: “Without more safe alternatives for those in need, vulnerable people will continue to be forced into the hands of smugglers and even more dangerous routes as their only option for seeking protection.”
And social media users slammed the videos of immigrants being arrested as “ghoulish”.
Some even compared it to the Tories’ attempted crackdown, as the former government released its own videos showing officers arresting illegal migrants last May before they supposed to be deported to Rwanda.
Others pointed out that this crackdown just works in Reform UK’s favour.
And some users were simply horrified.