Priti Patel: British businesses too reliant on ‘cheap labour’ from the EU
Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused British businesses of being too reliant on “low skilled” and “cheap” labour from the EU, calling on firms to “invest in the British public”.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge programme this morning, Patel said the points-based immigration system the government plans to introduce after Brexit would “put a spotlight on the type of skills that we need to grow our labour market”
She added that British businesses “have been far too reliant on low-skilled and quite frankly cheap labour from the EU, and we want to end that”.
Patel said the introduction of a points based system would “support the brightest and the best”, but was also “about encouraging British industry to do more to invest in capital, in people, in human capital, and in the skills that our country and our economy needs in the long run”.
Patel told the programme that the Migration Advisory Committee would issue a report this week outlining more details about Britain’s post-Brexit immigration system.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has pledged to introduce an Australian-style points based immigration system once freedom of movement between Britain and the EU ends in January 2021.
Asked about reports that the government is set to scrap the planned £30,000 salary floor for skilled workers entering the UK, the home secretary said: “We’ll be following the guidance from the Migration Advisory Committee, and I’m not going to prejudge that.”
She added that the committee “will be reporting this week in terms of the points-based system, the caps and numbers, and how we will be going about the points-based system”.
Responding to Patel’s comments, a spokesperson for the Institute of Directors (IoD) said: “With UK employment at record highs, and businesses reporting shortages across multiple sectors, the simple truth is that companies need international skills to remain competitive.”
“Firms know that the immigration rules are changing, they just want the government to involve them in designing the system,” they added.
Businesses have repeatedly raised concerns that a more closed-off immigration system could hurt British firms if they are unable to access the staff they need.
Last week, over 30 business groups and trade associations wrote to the Patel offering to help design a new system, warning that any post-Brexit system must provide them with “access to the labour and skills needed to support the economy”.
The letter — which was signed by organisations including the CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, and Federation of Small Businesses — also said that any new framework must meet “business’ needs of all sizes, sectors and across all UK regions and nations”.