Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle branded the network uncovered by the BBC as “unacceptable” adding it “won’t be allowed to happen on our watch”.
“Under this government there’s been an increase of 51% of raids on shops and businesses up and down the country,” he said.
Through Operation Sterling, the government has invested £5m into immigration enforcement – acknowledging the loose regulation of Britian’s labour market was acting as a pull factor for those entering the UK illegally.
Under the scheme more than 8,000 illegal migrants were arrested in the past year, with about 1,000 removed from the UK.
Last month, Mahmood said she wanted to “shrink the black economy” and dismantle the business model of smuggling gangs.
For obvious reasons, estimating the size of the black economy in the UK is complicated – but a recent study from researchers at the European Parliament suggests the size of the UK’s was about 11% of the total economy in 2022. This is lower than the average of 17% across 31 European countries.
The Home Office say the government’s roll out of digital ID will help combat illegal working by making it easier for employers to check the status of their employees.
Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately dismissed the digital ID plan as a “distraction and a red herring”, saying the scheme would not have stopped the criminal network uncovered by the BBC.