UK immigration criticised for Labour spin
April 16 2009 by Gareth McConnell
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green has slammed UK immigration for spending almost £8 million on publicity last year.
The £7.8 million budget, equating to 260 Immigration Officers, included £2 million for marketing and £3.3 million for advertising and promotion.
“In a crisis you can guarantee that New Labour will put spin before substance. So at a time when our borders are open, and confidence in the immigration system is low, what do they do? They spend millions on advertising, and increase the size of what they call the "professional communications community,” remarked Damian Green.
The shadow UK immigration minister also criticised plans to recruit a new campaign team, "one of the new roles will have 'responsibility for brand guardianship'. Wouldn't it be better to have more people responsible for keeping Britain's borders safe?"
A UK immigration spokesman defended the spending claiming several million in publicity will “deter illegal working and smuggling and promote legal compliance by businesses and travellers.”
“The UK Border Agency has over 25,000 staff working in local communities, at the border and in 135 countries around the world,” added the UKBA spokesman.
The news follows reports part of the fingerprinting system used to issue a UK visa and stop wanted criminals entering the country has been suffering a malfunction for almost a week.
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