In a cutting-edge, tech-tastic move, the Home Office has finally found a way to 'smash' the boats. Well, sort of. Actually, maybe not.
In a digital blitz, the Government has launched only its second official TikTok account.
With the catchy handle, 'Secure Borders UK' and the slogan: 'Restoring order and control to our borders', it shows video of deportations and arrests by immigration enforcement officers. And it ends with the message: “And it’s just getting started.”
"Finally", some of you might say. And you'd be right to look at this with a critical eye. Will it make even the slightest bit of difference? Unlikely.
It's a far cry from the brutal ICE tactics in the US.
The first short video shows illegal migrants handcuffed and being loaded onto planes, along with raids on illegal workers.
The usual critics have condemned the new account of turning raids into "clickbait online entertainment".
Keir Starmer's TikTok fails to make a dent in the dinghy crisis as HUNDREDS breach border
|Getty Images
Having said that, production values are reasonably high, and videos come with a menacing soundtrack as an added bonus.
Either way, it didn't stop another load of small boats braving the wind, rain and arctic freeze to make it to UK waters. 171 illegal migrants in 3 dinghies to be precise.
That's over 200 this year so far, and we can expect thousands more over the coming months to buzz their way across the Channel in noisy inflatable vessels.
As heads were turned watching the unedifying spectacle of former immigration minister Robert Jenrick's Apostle Paul-style conversion from the Tories to Reform UK, the Government was busy making announcements about potholes.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who's been desperately trying to dig herself out of bigger holes lately, had to confess that her prized £22 billion fiscal headroom could be slashed as a result of a steep fall in net migration, leading to renewed speculation about tax rises to bridge the fiscal gap.
Under questioning from journalists, she suggested that if we make sure we attract high-end migrants, then all will be fine and our taxes won't rocket to crazy levels.
Even though they are already at crazy levels. "Britain is broken", according to Robert Jenrick. He says one of the reasons he made the biblical conversion is that he believes the Tories and Labour have failed on migration. He's right. But unless I just woke up from an induced 15-year sleep, Mr Jenrick was part of the Tory government that failed spectacularly on immigration.
What's now clear is that when it comes to illegal migration, no one in government really appears to know how to smash the gangs. Robert Jenrick is part of the TikTok generation with his activist-style videos. So bring on the TikTokers. Will they show us how to do it? Answers on a postcard, please.
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