UK touts a clampdown on illegal working as it seeks to look tough on immigration The British government on Monday touted its success in raiding businesses that employ unauthorized workers and deporting thousands of migrants with no right to stay in the U.K. What’s billed as a “blitz on illegal working” is part of a pledge by the center-left Labour government to reduce immigration -– a priority for many voters -– and stop the growing popularity of the hard-right party Reform U.K.
The government said Monday that immigration enforcement teams have carried out more than 5,000 raids since Labour was elected in July on businesses including nail bars, convenience stores, vape shops, restaurants and car washes, and made almost 4,000 arrests.
Labour won a landslide election victory just seven months ago, but the government’s popularity has slumped and polls suggest a surge in support for Reform U.K., the populist anti-immigrant party led by Nigel Farage.
But for migrants groups, and some Labour Party members, the images uncomfortably recall a previous Conservative government’s pledge to make Britain a “hostile environment” for illegal migration.
Reform’s rise has left both Labour and the Tories scrambling to respond, and is part of the reason for the government talking tough on immigration.
