AN OFFICIAL agency charged with tackling illegal immigration spent nearly £8million of taxpayers’ cash on public relations last year, it was revealed yesterday.
The big spend by the Government’s UK Border Agency was revealed in figures uncovered by the Tories.
A spokesman for UKBA said publicity was an important way of stopping illegal immigration. But critics said the cash could have been much better employed tackling the problem head-on.
The UKBA budget for publicity and promotion of £7.8million included £2million for marketing and £3.3million for advertising and promotion. It would have paid the salaries of 260 immigration officers, the Conservatives said.
And they criticised plans to hire a “campaign team” including a manager earning up to £59,708 and a senior marketing manager earning up to£44,201 a year.
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: “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’.
“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?”
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said the money would be better used deporting “thousands of bogus students”.
And Matthew Elliott, chief executive at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “If the UK Borders Agency spent more time doing their job and less time talking about it we would have far less of an illegal immigration problem in this country.
“Taxpayers want the agency to crack down on the problem at hand, not to splash their hard-earned cash on snazzy marketing and self-promotion.”
More than 500,000 foreigners came to live in Britain last year, helping to push the population to nearly 61million. continues here
The big spend by the Government’s UK Border Agency was revealed in figures uncovered by the Tories.
A spokesman for UKBA said publicity was an important way of stopping illegal immigration. But critics said the cash could have been much better employed tackling the problem head-on.
The UKBA budget for publicity and promotion of £7.8million included £2million for marketing and £3.3million for advertising and promotion. It would have paid the salaries of 260 immigration officers, the Conservatives said.
And they criticised plans to hire a “campaign team” including a manager earning up to £59,708 and a senior marketing manager earning up to£44,201 a year.
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: “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’.
“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?”
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch UK, said the money would be better used deporting “thousands of bogus students”.
And Matthew Elliott, chief executive at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “If the UK Borders Agency spent more time doing their job and less time talking about it we would have far less of an illegal immigration problem in this country.
“Taxpayers want the agency to crack down on the problem at hand, not to splash their hard-earned cash on snazzy marketing and self-promotion.”
More than 500,000 foreigners came to live in Britain last year, helping to push the population to nearly 61million. continues here
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