THE Tory government’s Illegal Migration Bill is a “gift to dodgy employers who are looking to exploit migrant workers in the underground economy,” the TUC warned today.

The widely condemned legislation, which aims to criminalise any asylum-seeker arriving in Britain via “illegal” routes, despite the scarcity of legal ones, will make the “already rampant abuse of migrant workers much, much worse,” the union confederation said.

The intervention came as ministers unveiled plans to house asylum-seekers in disused military bases to provide for their “essential living needs and nothing more,” despite legal challenges from local MPs.