This week, Keir Starmer’s divisive speech on immigration prompted some of his own MPs to liken his words to those of Enoch Powell.

Instead of getting bogged down in the specifics of what he said (you can read plenty of that elsewhere), I'd rather focus on the consequences for those already exploited and abused by the UK's immigration system.

The social care system relies on workers from overseas. It is already overstretched – but without them, it would collapse completely. And yet these workers often pay tens of thousands in illegal recruitment fees, have the working hours they were promised cut, suffer wage theft and can be left destitute.

That’s what we uncovered in a blockbuster investigation last year. Working with Citizens Advice, we gathered the testimonies of almost 175 people working for approximately 80 care providers painting a detailed and frankly angering picture.

These people had sold assets and invested savings to come to the UK on the health and care worker visa. The way that visa scheme is set up means that the worker’s right to remain in the UK depends on their employer: if they lose their job, they face deportation.

This leaves them with very little power to blow the whistle on an abusive boss – and abuse is rampant. It’s a brutal system.

Our findings were so powerful that Yvette Cooper, who was the shadow home secretary at the time, called it a “disgrace”.

“The government has turned a blind eye to widespread exploitation of migrant care workers, putting vulnerable people at risk and undermining our immigration system and standards,” she told the Guardian. “Stories of people being unfairly charged thousands of pounds by agencies and employers who are profiting from overseas recruitment are a total disgrace. There must be a full investigation into these reports to ensure standards are upheld, and exploitative employers are prosecuted.”

That was last June. Fast forward a year, with Cooper now installed as home secretary, and there’s no sign of the investigation she was so adamant was needed. Instead, Cooper is defending a plan that appears to show little care for the actual workers. 

The changes to the immigration system would mean that the tens of thousands of workers propping up the care system have had the rules changed on them. They came to the UK having been told that they’d be able to obtain permanent residency after five years. That’s now likely to be extended to 10.

To help you understand what this actually means for these people, we asked a care worker from South Africa to write an opinion piece for us. Nandi Msezane writes that the government’s plan scapegoats migrant workers and ignores the abusive visa system.

“I am being made to decide between staying in a country that treats my labour as indentured servitude or move to one that values my contribution,” Msezane writes. “With each statement made by this government, it becomes clearer which choice I should make.”

She added: “I have spoken to many care workers who have built a life in the UK and hold a great commitment to the work we provide, but are ready to pack their bags and move to a country where our labour is valued.”

With the dehumanising discussion in full swing, I was proud to give a platform to Msezane’s view. Guardian columnists John Harris and Gaby Hinsliff shared the piece, emphasising how important it was to hear from the people who are actually affected by all of this.

This is part of something you might have noticed at TBIJ over the past few months. We’ve been doing more analysis articles and the occasional opinion piece too. Our priority is still hard-hitting investigations into corruption and wrongdoing. But we also want to help you make sense of the bigger picture. Our reporters and editors are real pros in their area and the insights they have cut through all the noise and BS out there. So when we’ve got something valuable to add to the debate, we’ll share it.

Factchecked!

Each week we reveal a fascinating fact from our reporting…

Did you know?

Warnings against the heightened risk of drug-resistant infections due to the widespread use of antibiotics in farming go as far back as 1969.

Find out more

The meat industry is responsible for 73% of global antibiotic use – which has been linked to a rise in antimicrobial resistance. This means that if you eat undercooked meat that gives you an infection (like salmonella or E.coli) it’s increasingly likely to be resistant against the medicine your doctor gives you.

Despite warnings against the overuse of antibiotics, government action has been slow.

Read more here.

Did Liam Kavanagh lie?

The case against wealthy businessman Liam Kavanagh got spicy as Thurrock council flat out accused him of lying to the high court and submitting forged evidence to cover his tracks.

Since our investigation into Thurrock’s missing millions resulted in the council’s leadership resigning, the chase has been on to claw back some of the cash.

The council lawyer’s brought a fraud claim against Kavanagh and his company saying that it had lost about £200m in deals with him. Reading over the case, it was remarkable how similar it was to what we have been reporting over the past few years.

Thurrock’s deals with Kavanagh and his companies, totalling £655m, effectively bankrupted the council and amounted to potentially the largest fraud ever perpetrated against a UK local authority.

In the latest twist, the council now claims that Kavanagh allegedly created a “sham” invoice showing a transaction between two of his companies when he had in fact paid the money to himself. The Essex authority says this was to corroborate a lie told in court by Kavanagh and that his deception cost Thurrock up to £37m.

Kavanagh is not someone prone to direct engagement with TBIJ. But his spokespeople came in hot, saying the businessman “strenuously denies” the allegations.

Kavanagh has consistently denied involvement in any alleged fraud. His spokesperson told TBIJ that any suggested he misled Thurrock officials is “denied in the strongest terms” and that he “will put forward a robust defence in due course”. Instead, he said, the council created this whole mess itself and is scapegoating him for its own failings.