The UK government is turning to technology to tackle the small boats crisis. Critics call it a gimmick, so why does Starmer think it’s a game-changer?
Fury as ‘pathetic’ PM’s ‘laughable’ brainwave to stop Channel migrant dinghies (Image: Tiktok)
Sir Keir Starmer’s government has unveiled its latest brainwave to stop the small boats — opening a TikTok account. The Home Office insists it is aimed at tackling online misinformation and dissuading migrants from risking the journey across the Channelbut both the Tories and Reform have dismissed it as a gimmick.
The PM risked a row last night by telling Labour MPs that “immigration is under control”. While legal net migration has fallen owing to Tory curbs and Britons moving abroad, it is still more than 200,000 annually. And crossings were up last year despite Labour’s pledge to smash the smuggling gangs, with a total of 41,472 crossing the English Channel in small boats during 2025, according to confirmed Home Office statistics published at the end of the year.
The TikTok channel, called Secure Borders UK, launches today with footage of illegal migrants and foreign criminals being arrested, detained and deported. Slickly branded in red, white and blue, it has an official Home Office tick and the slogan “restoring order and control to our borders.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is yet another pathetic gimmick that won’t work. The idea that putting some posts on TikTok will stop illegal immigrants is laughable — just like the Government’s previous gimmick to smash the gangs. The Labour government is putting illegal channel immigrants up in hotels, allowing rampant illegal working and allowing 95 per cent of them to stay. No wonder they continue to flood in, with numbers surging since Labour came to power.”
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice: ‘Only Reform can sort this, by leaving the foreign ECHR’
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Using TikTok will not magically solve the boats crisis, nor stop the invasion of illegals. People want action, not trendy social media. Only Reform can sort this, by leaving the foreign ECHR so we can detain and deport every illegal chancer rocking up on our beaches”
Ministers say the social media move is driven by a surge in online content about migration. Analysis found immigration-related TikTok content jumped by 61 per cent in just three months last summer — more than on any other social media platform.
And a Whitehall source said: “The UK public deserve to know facts and the truth about the Government’s efforts to tackle illegal migration. We can’t let people be exploited by fake news superspreaders — so we are parking the tanks on the lawn of those who deal in misinformation. Secure Borders UK will help engage a wider audience on illegal immigration. It will also act as a channel to show those paying people smugglers that you will be caught if you come to the UK illegally, and deported.”
TikTok channel, Secure Borders UK, launches today (Image: TikTok)
Home Office: Illegal working enforcement visits and arrests hit record highs in 2025
The Home Office says the TikTok push comes alongside a record crackdown on illegal working. New figures show enforcement visits and arrests hit their highest level since records began in 2019. In all, 12,791 visits were carried out in 2025 — up 57 per cent on the year before and targeting businesses such as nail bars, car washes, barbers and takeaways.
Arrests also hit a new high, with 8,971 people detained last year — up nearly 59 per cent on 2024. Of those, 1,087 have already been removed from the UK.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “There is no place for illegal working in our communities. That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide. I will stop at nothing to restore order and control to our borders.”
