The Home Office is advertising for a £44,000 graphic designer role to promote Sir Keir Starmer's efforts to curb Channel crossings rather than invest in more enforcement officers, GB News can reveal.
The department listed the position, paying up to £44,191-a-year, leaving Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp to slam "this weak Government" for looking to employ someone to "draw some nice pictures [rather] than protect our borders".
Mr Philp's comments come off the back of his trip to France this week, where he observed the illegal migration crisis in person.
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He wrote on GB News on Thursday that since Labour had won last year's General Election, more than 50,000 people had illegally crossed the Channel.
Mr Philp added that 2025 has so far proved to be the worst year ever - with 27,000 illegal migrants having made the perilous journey in the first eight months.
Responding to the Home Office's latest vacancy, Philp exclusively told GB News that it was "ridiculous" that the department was not advertising for both immigration enforcement and Border Force officers.
"It is ridiculous that the Home Office is prioritising non-frontline jobs like graphic designers instead of hiring people to protect our borders," he said.
"They’re more interested in diversity officers than immigration enforcement officers."
The Home Office is not looking for any border force officers
|HOME OFFICE
The Home Office is not looking for any immigration enforcement officers either
|HOME OFFICE
On the Home Office's website, the advertisement reads: "We're not advertising any Immigration Enforcement vacancies currently, but you can learn more about the team's work and view similar vacancies on the Home Office Careers Website".
It added: "We're not advertising any Border Force Vacancies currently, but you can learn more about the team's work and view similar vacancies on the Home Office Careers website".
As for the 'Graphic Designer', the successful applicant would join the Home Office's social media team.
"The (team) is at the forefront of showing how the department's work impacts people across the UK," the advertisement reads.
The advertisement for the graphic designer
|HOME OFFICE
The description of the advertisement
|HOME OFFICE
"You’ll be designing content for the likes of Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, and the police, as well as collaborating with some of the UK’s biggest influencers and digital media platforms.
"Your work will be seen by millions across the Home Office’s social media channels (with a combined following of over 1.8 million) and through wider partnerships and campaigns."
The successful applicant would "play a vital role in shaping our presence across channels".
Mr Philp said the Home Office "should be urgently increasing the resources allocated to protecting our borders and deporting illegal immigrants".
Chris Philp in Calais
| X"But this weak government would rather draw some nice pictures than protect our borders," the Shadow Home Secretary told GB News.
"That’s probably why this year so far has been the worst ever for illegal crossings of the English Channel.”
According to the Home Office's data, a total of 31 small boats have attempted to cross the English Channel in the last seven days from August 8 to August 14.
The number of migrants that have attempted to make the trip on these boats has also totalled 2,042.
During his trip to Calais, Mr Philp told GB News that he saw French warships escorting dinghies in the Channel on the very day Labour's migrant surrender deal was meant to come into effect.
He wrote: "I heard French forces asking for 60 of their life jackets back so that they can facilitate more boat crossings."
"It looked to me like the French were facilitating illegal migration, which is a criminal offence," Mr Philp added.
The comments come after the Prime Minister signed off the so called "one-in, one-out" pilot scheme with French President Emmanuel Macron in Labour's bid to "smash to the gangs".
However, Mr Philp warned that the new deal "isn't" working.
GB News has approached the Home Office for comment.