Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has declared that next week's Budget will be fundamentally 'based on fairness', as the government announces a significant financial injection to combat illegal working in the UK.
Speaking to journalists en route to the G20 summit in South Africa, Sir Keir confirmed that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver a statement on November 26 that embodies Labour's core principles. This comes amid widespread anticipation that the government will raise taxes to address a multi-billion pound shortfall in its spending plans.
A Budget of Labour Values
The Prime Minister expressed his optimism for the nation's future, despite public concern over the UK's economic outlook. He emphasised that the forthcoming financial plan would be 'a Labour Budget with Labour values', squarely focused on protecting essential public services.
'It will have absolutely in mind protecting our public services, particularly the NHS, cutting our debt, and dealing with the cost of living, bearing down on the cost of living,' Sir Keir stated. He acknowledged that the 'right decisions' must be made, citing the challenging economic legacy of austerity, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a 'not very good Brexit deal'.
Cracking Down on the Shadow Economy
A central pillar of the new Budget will be a robust clampdown on illegal work, which the government identifies as a key 'pull factor' for migrants crossing the Channel. Number 10 announced that £1 million will be allocated to a new, specialised team of investigators.
This taskforce will coordinate with Immigration Enforcement and HMRC to ensure swift action against businesses that break the rules by employing people illegally. 'It is too easy to work illegally in the UK, which is why we’re putting this extra money in, setting up the extra resource,' the Prime Minister explained.
The initiative builds on enforcement actions over the past year, which have seen officers make more than 8,000 arrests and raid over 11,000 businesses. In October alone, nearly 2,000 sites were raided, almost 700 arrests were made, and more than £10.7 million in suspected criminal proceeds was seized.
Broader Enforcement and Future Plans
The new investigative team will ultimately report into the Fair Work Agency, a new government body scheduled for launch next year. This agency will have a broader mandate to tackle employers who fail to pay the minimum wage and those who exploit workers.
This crackdown extends to the gig economy. The government last month began a six-week consultation on plans to expand right-to-work checks. Under the proposed rules, employers, including those in delivery and platform work, could face five years in prison or fines of £60,000 for each illegal worker they hire.
In response, major delivery firms like Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats have already intensified their real-identity and right-to-work checks to prevent illegal working on their platforms. This move dovetails with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's wider plans to overhaul the UK's border security and legal migration system, unveiled earlier this week.
