Environment Secretary George Eustice has unveiled a new route for 10,000 farming workers to come to the UK, following pressure from the UK Trade and Business Commission. After reports that fruit and vegetables will be going unpicked, the government has confirmed that 8,000 fruit and vegetable pickers and 2,000 poultry workers will be given a new visa route for seasonal work.
With labor issues not limited to farming and with the travel and hospitality sectors also coping with acute shortages, commissioners have called for a more considered and comprehensive strategy to address these issues which businesses have experienced since the implementation of the government's Brexit deal.
Caroline Lucas MP, Member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said: "It is right that the government has at last recognized the issue, but farming is not the only sector suffering from labor shortages, and piecemeal interventions will be insufficient in meeting the workforce challenges created by their punitive approach to immigration.
Source: southwestfarmer.co.uk