HOME Office Minister Alex Norris has said the government is working to close legal loopholes to prevent migrants working illegally in the UK.

Asked about the deportation of Hadush Kebatu, he told GB News: ”Well, the law is very clear that if you commit a crime that gives you that means you get a sentence, a custodial sentence of a year. Once you’ve served 30% of it, you should be removed. And that’s what would have happened in this case come what may.

“You are right though, we get battled every inch of the way. We’ve significantly increased the number of people we’ve removed from this country with no right to be here, over 35,000 now. But it’s not enough. We want to go further.

“We get pushed every which way in the courts. I think we need to be stronger in the courts. That’s a commitment we’ve made. But we also need to make sure that there aren’t loopholes in the law, such as the one that we’re consulting on, our closure of with regards to right to work checks.

“There are gaps, yet we’re not where we want to be. That’s why we’re pushing as hard as we are.”

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On migrants working illegally, he said: “We need to grow our own in all industries. We need those jobs to be done by people who have the right to do it. You can’t just abandon all of those checks, because, as I say, it attracts people who have no right to be here. It attracts the undercutting of British businesses who do things the right way.

“So, for me, this is a significant thing that we have to do. I’m really pleased we’ve made the progress that we’ve had, but we want to do much more.

“For one of the examples, the right to work checks, there’s a loophole in the gig economy that makes it much harder to check. We’re closing that, and we’re sending a signal to those bosses as well who are using this type of labour.

“If you do this, you will be subject to a five-year criminal sentence and an unlimited fine. So don’t just price it into your business model, because we’re not going to accept it.”