Paddy Power ruined a perfectly valid argument with its latest publicity stunt about immigration

Betting firm deploys lorry inviting immigrants to 'jump in the back' but only if they're 'good at sport' as it uses Calais migrant crisis to promote itself

Paddy Power's latest publicity stunt invites immigrants to 'jump in the back' of their van but only if they're 'good at sport' (Paddy Power)

At first sight glance, the latest publicity stunt from Paddy Power looked like a distasteful joke about the current migrant crisis in Calais, where thousands of migrants are taking advantage of traffic delays by jumping in the back of every passing lorry.

However it turns out the betting company has made a perfectly valid point about Britain's current immigration system, but managed to ruin it by a) taking advantage of a humanitarian crisis to boost its image and b) depicting Andy Murray as an immigrant.

Paddy Power's latest publicity stunt invites immigrants to 'jump in the back' of their van but only if they're 'good at sport' (Paddy Power)

Plastered across the side of its lorry is the slogan: "Immigrants, jump in the back! (But only if you’re good at sport)" accompanied by a host of Britain's top sports stars who were born outside the UK as well as Andy Murray, who the firm describes as "sometimes Brit, sometimes Scot".

Whether intentional or not, Paddy Power makes a very pertinent point about Britain’s immigration system, which is based around a discriminatory visa classification where non-EU migrants are only allowed into the UK if they have been offered a skilled job on a salary over a certain threshold.

Paddy Power shows off its latest publicity stunt in front of the cliffs of Dover (Paddy Power)

And the government even set a cap on the number of those skilled migrants that are allowed in, which was breached last month for the first time since it was introduced four years ago.

Non-EU migrants also have to pay a fee of around £500 to be let in and each of their dependents costs a similar fee too.

So the message the UK is sending the non-EU world: you can come to our country, but only if you’re already really good at your job, have a well-paid job lined up and have enough money to pay the entry fee.

If we end up leaving the EU, European citizens can expect to be judged on the same discriminatory conditions.

Andy Murray, the 'sometimes Brit, sometimes Scot' as Paddy Power describes him (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Paddy Power made the same point by inviting immigrants to “jump in the back” of their lorry but only if they’re “good at sport”.

Footballer Raheem Sterling, long-distance runner Mo Farah, rugby star Manu Tuilagi and England's cricket captain Eoin Morgan were all born outside of the UK but came to the UK before they were good at their jobs – perhaps some of the millions of Syrian refugees rejected by the UK would grow up as football stars too if we gave them asylum.

A more powerful way of making the same point would have been to plaster its lorry with the faces of the thousands of poorly paid and low-skilled migrants who Britain’s economy relies upon as cleaners, builders, nurses and bus drivers, as the I Am an Immigrant poster campaign did earlier this year.

(MAX)

(MAX)

A Paddy Power press officer insisted it was not trying to make a political point with the poster but simply trying to have some fun with Britain's sports stars, who attract the millions of pounds worth of bets that benefit the the betting industry.

A spokesman said: “We’re not commenting on the migration crisis. What we’re doing is making a joke about Britain’s leading sports stars, in particular Andy Murray. That’s where it ends for us. We’re not wading into discussions about what’s going on. This is predominantly about Andy Murray’s nationality.”

If only a company that benefited from Britain's cheap but vital migrant population decided to drive a lorry around Dover with the faces of cleaners, builders, nurses and bus drivers plastered on its side...