There is a thriving shadow economy in Britain – but migrants are not to blame | Emily Kenway

<p>While Labour is desperately trying to mimic Reform’s line on the cash economy, the blame lies solidly with ordinary people feeling the pinch</p><p>According to politicians across all parties, something called the “hidden economy” – the shadowy nethers of the labour market, in which work goes unregulated and undeclared to the authorities – is a “<a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/illegal-goods-bogus-businesses-hurting-32111945">menace</a>”, full of migrants whose illegal working “<a href="https://labour.org.uk/home-secretary-shabana-mahmood-at-labour-party-conference-2025/">undercuts British workers</a>”, and even a <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2025-09-01c.36.0">threat to our national security</a>. MPs have been so worried about asylum seekers delivering their Friday night pizza that they’ve spent parliamentary time discussing Deliveroo et al’s business models. In response, the government has repeatedly reassured us, in the somewhat Mills &amp; Boon-style phrasing of Yvette Cooper, when she was home secretary, that it’s “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nationwide-clampdown-on-delivery-riders-working-illegally">surging enforcement</a>” to tackle the problem.</p><p>Solutions suggested include Keir Starmer’s digital ID cards,<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/largest-crackdown-on-illegal-workers-since-records-began">requirements</a> for increased “right to work” checks, and <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2025-10-10.78022.h&amp;s=deliveroo#g78022.r0">new data-sharing agreements</a> in which the Home Office gives delivery companies the addresses of asylum hotels to try to stop asylum seekers working. All of these measures are intended to stop migrants earning money if