From This is London...The government agency charged with tackling illegal immigration spent nearly £8 million on public relations last year.
Figures uncovered by the Tories showed the UK Border Agency's budget for publicity and promotion was £7.8 million in the financial year 2008/9 - including £2 million for marketing and £3.3 million for advertising and promotion.
A spokesman for UKBA said publicity was an important way of stopping illegal immigration.
The total budget would have paid the salaries of 260 Immigration Officers, according to the Tories, who criticised plans to hire a new "Campaign Team" including a campaigns manager earning up to £59,708 a year and a senior marketing manager earning up to £44,201 a year.
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "In a crisis you can guarantee that New Labour will put spin before substance.
"So at a time when our borders are open, and confidence in the immigration system is low, what do they do? They spend millions on advertising, and increase the size of what they call the "professional communications community".
"One of the new roles will have 'responsibility for brand guardianship'. Wouldn't it be better to have more people responsible for keeping Britain's borders safe?"
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of campaign group Migrationwatch UK, said the money would be better used deporting "bogus" students.
He said: "With foreign immigration now approaching three million in 10 years the first instinct of the Home Office is to recruit more spin doctors to conceal their policy failures. Deporting some of the thousands of bogus students would be a much better use of the money."
Now why does this agency need to spend millions promoting itself, when the very people who show the most interest in it are doing their best to avoid its attention. Cue illegals running out the back of the kebab shop -not the one Jacqui Smith visited I hope - every time they hear a police siren....
Technorati Tags: waste, spin, immigration, new labour
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