We'll never stop the boats coming if we don't smash the black economy

Telegraph

11-07-2025

In the reporting on this week's migration agreement between France and the UK, most of the focus has been on the 'one in, one out' deal between the countries. Britain will send back 50 illegal arrivals a week, in exchange for 50 other migrants who have applied via a French scheme. The idea is that being sent straight back to France will deter migrants from making the journey, and that Sir Kier Starmer will be able to announce that he has 'stopped the boats'.
In reality, of course, this will make no real difference to the situation. In the past week, almost 1,100 migrants crossed the Channel. Given the opportunity to be housed, clothed and fed for free, and potentially granted asylum and ultimately the right to housing, health care, education and benefits, a less than one in 20 chance of being sent back to France will not stop the illegal crossings.
Sir Keir and Mr Macron know this. The French president spoke about the British Government's 'mobilisation to deal with the pull factors for irregular migrants, including the fight against illegal work'. How real is this commitment? The Home Office insists that in the last year, 'immigration enforcement has increased illegal working activity by 51 per cent' and it is promising 'new biometric kits' for these teams so that it can conduct on-the-spot right to work checks.
What actually happens when illegal workers are caught? Under the 1971 Immigration Act they can be sentenced to a maximum of six months imprisonment. However, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance says that they would almost never prosecute, instead seeking to remove an illegal worker from the UK. The CPS does not publish any data on how many people it prosecutes for working illegally.
For asylum seekers even the threat of deportation does not exist. This week, an immigration officer told a journalist that working illegally does not hurt an asylum seeker's claim. This is correct. Under the law, only someone classed as a 'serious criminal', and jailed for at least 12 months is at risk of their claim being rejected as a result.
The gig economy is often linked to illegal working. Chris Philp,the shadow home secretary, visited a migrant hotel, in June, and found 'clear evidence of illegal working for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats '.
These businesses insist they are doing everything possible, and going beyond their legal obligations in checking documents. But if this is true, how can it be that social media is awash with opportunities to loan or buy delivery accounts?
Meanwhile, the Government has introduced new penalties for companies employing illegal staff, including fines of up to £60,000 per worker, business closures and even the threat of imprisonment for directors. Unfortunately all these efforts are only likely to scratch the surface of the problem.
There may have been over 7,000 arrests of illegal workers in the last 12 months, but with a 2020 study estimating that 800,000 to 1.2 million people were living in the UK, none of whom are entitled to benefits, it is reasonable to believe that illegal workers number in at least the high hundreds of thousands. Even if the Home Office managed to double, or triple the number of annual arrests it would not begin to stop illegal working.
Ultimately, immigration enforcement is like 'stopping the boats'. It does nothing about pull factors. Arrest some workers, fine some cash-in-hand businesses, maybe even jail the occasional director, if we can find the room. The shadow economy rolls on.
These illegal workers, on delivery bikes, at car washes, or elsewhere in the gig economy, are working to feed our hunger. We love the convenience of restaurant food on demand, cheap fruit or a cheap car wash. All these conveniences are reliant on a vast population of illegal workers and while that demand exists they will keep coming. Large-scale gig economy businesses are perfect for the government.
The corporate business receives legitimate revenues and pays taxes, meanwhile the illegal workers operate at arms length, keeping costs down. To solve this, rather than fiddling around the edges with enforcement and checks, we need to stop using those businesses and industries which are clearly intimately connected with illegal work, and should demand that the government closes businesses, which require illegal staff to operate.