Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding firm in the face of growing calls for a relaxation of the UK’s post-Brexit visa system, saying there will be no return to what he calls “uncontrolled immigration”.
Although the government is temporarily easing visa restrictions in the hope of attracting 10,500 lorry drivers and agricultural workers to ease chronic labour shortages and supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas, Mr Johnson made it clear he was sticking by the points-based immigration system introduced when freedom of movement from the EU ended at the start of the year.Not only has there been a clamour from the haulage, agricultural and hospitality sectors for easier visas after they lost tens of thousands workers because of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, but business groups have also been warning of a shortage of high-skilled workers in sectors such as finance, engineering and IT.However, in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Mr Johnson rejected the idea that the country was in crisis because of labour shortages and said the economy was merely confronting “the stresses and strains that you’d expect from a giant waking up” after the pandemic.He said the government was moving the away from relying on low paid and low skilled workers from the EU and said the nation’s “world leading” logistics industry would fix the current supply chain issues.However, the prime minister revealed that, so far, there had been only 127 applications from overseas for the 5,000 HGV visas on offer. That, he insisted, was merely evidence of a global shortage of drivers.He added: “If you look at the productivity of the UK, we have undershot all our major competitors for two decades or more.
“That is because we have a low-wage, low-cost approach where business does not invest in skills, does not invest in capital or facilities.”In an earlier interview with the BBC at the start of this week’s Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson said:…
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