Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Ministers clash with business leaders over calls to open borders

Ministers clash with business leaders over calls to open borders

Clash with ministers over demands to relax immigration rules to ease jobs crisis
Ministers have clashed with business leaders over calls to open Britain’s borders to more foreign workers to help plug crippling staff shortages.

Amid deepening economic gloom as the UK heads into recession, company bosses want the Government to relax its cap on immigration to boost growth and fill staffing gaps — particularly in the retail, hospitality and construction industries. But immigration minister Robert Jenrick slapped down those demands today and insisted that employers struggling to find staff should look to the “domestic workforce” if they are seeking “lower-skilled labour”.

“We want to bring down net migration,” the minister told TalkTV. “It’s something that is very important to the British people and we’re on the side of the British people.”

The row came as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this morning set out his vision to grow the economy in a speech to the Confederation of British Industry in Birmingham. But his attempts to reassure business leaders after last week’s Autumn Statement set out plans to raise taxes by £25 billion were overshadowed by the immigration row.

Mr Sunak told the CBI conference he was “absolutely committed to using our new Brexit freedoms to create the most pro-innovation regulatory environment in the world in sectors like life sciences, financial services, AI and data”. He added: “I want to build a better country where we get inflation down and grow the economy, where we cut NHS waiting times and improve the quality of care and where we invest more in schools and give every child a world-class education and critical to achieving all this is innovation... we need to teach people the skills to become great innovators.”

Speaking on economic migration ahead of Mr Sunak’s speech, CBI boss Tony Danker told the BBC: “The reason why it’s so important is we have literally over a million vacancies in this country, we have 600,000 people who are now long-term unwell, who aren’t coming back to the labour market any time soon.

“That’s why we have to get this shortage occupation list — the list of people that we’re really missing that we aren’t going to get in Britain anytime soon — and we have to get them to plug the gap while we re-calibrate the labour market in the medium term. I’m afraid it’s one of those levers that does help you grow, doesn’t cost money, but I recognise it’s a tough political choice for Conservative politicians.”

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, said her industry has faced labour shortages of 10 per cent since last summer. She added: “Despite heavy investment in training and recruitment initiatives, the outlook has not improved and vacancy rates remain at record levels across the economy as a whole, suggesting we need a new approach. For hospitality, the vacancies mean we cannot operate at full capacity with half of businesses cutting hours, closing on certain days and reducing capacity — that means we are turning away £25 billion in business and the Treasury is losing £7 billion in tax.”

A survey this summer by the British Chambers of Commerce found that more than 60 per cent of companies needed to find more staff in the UK — but more than three-quarters were struggling to hire. Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates, said: “We have campaigned to make immigration policy more accessible to skilled talent around the world. It would be a real benefit if we re-looked at that. We need a workforce that is equipped for a digital future and there is not enough home-grown skills to support that.”

He added that the skills shortage challenge was “enormous” with “over 100,000 tech vacancies across the UK”.

A poll, published today by the Heart of London Business Alliance, which represents 600 businesses and 100 leading property owners in central London, found that 95 per cent of respondents said that staff shortages were impacting business performance, with 82 per cent stating that this issue was “a big problem”.

Charlie Gilkes, founder of Inception Group, the operator behind bar and restaurant concepts like Mr Fogg’s, Cahoots and the new Control Room B at Battersea Power Station, said: “The hospitality industry has the potential to light a fire under the economic revival of central London, but we are not trading all the hours we would like to.

“It continues to be incredibly hard to find people who want to work in the sector. In past times, many people have come from Europe to London to work for two or three years, but that pool of workers has diminished since Brexit. We would like to employ more Brits but they aren’t applying in any great numbers.”

Brexiteer Next chief executive Lord Wolfson earlier this month urged the Government to make it easier to allow foreign workers into the UK because of the chronic labour shortages saying this is “not the Brexit I wanted”.

The Tory peer said in a BBC interview: “We have got people queueing up to come to this country to pick crops that are rotting in fields, to work in warehouses that otherwise wouldn’t be operable, and we’re not letting them in.”

The dispute with business leaders came amid a fresh storm over Brexit after weekend newspaper reports suggested the Government was considering negotiating a softer Swiss-style trading relationship with the EU. Switzerland and the EU have bilateral agreements giving the country direct access to parts of the EU’s internal market including the free movement of people.

But while Mr Jenrick said the UK did want to improve its trading relationship with the EU, it did not want to reopen the Brexit debate. “We had a big debate about that as a country, and we settled on one which I think was the right approach,” he said.

“We walked away from freedom of movement, which was not popular with the British public, we ensured that European judges no longer had jurisdiction in the British courts, and we ensured that we weren’t paying money to the EU. Those are the key tenants of our new relationship with the EU.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
×