Shortages: PM’s emergency driver visa plans slammed as a ‘drop in the bucket’
Prime minister Boris Johnson will use a temporary visa scheme to allow overseas workers into the UK in a bid to ease the country’s shortages in the lead up to Christmas.
But the plan was rounded on by the Lib Dems, who this morning indicated that the number of emergency visas that can be granted is well short of the total driver vacancies.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said: “These changes will barely scratch the surface of the desperate labour shortages facing our economy.
“The UK needs 100,000 more HGV drivers, yet the Conservatives are only prepared to grant 5,000 temporary visas”.
The shortages have led to the EG Group, which owns some 400 service stations across the country, to impose a £30 spending limit to halt panic buying.
Following months of pressure from businesses, with supermarkets and fuel giants alike reporting issues, the new programme will cover up to 10,000 foreign workers.
The package is expected to “last three to six months, to see us through Christmas”, one Whitehall official told the FT.
MPs met yesterday to sign off on issuing temporary visas to thousands of foreign truck drivers and meat processing workers. Downing Street is looking to make a formal announcement as early as this afternoon, reports say.
’10 days to save Christmas’
Downing Street said on Friday night: “We have ample fuel stocks in this country, and the public should be reassured that there are no shortages. But, like countries around the world, we are suffering from a temporary Covid-related shortage of drivers needed to move supplies around the country.
“We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly time-limited.
“We are moving to a high-wage, high-skilled economy and businesses will need to adapt, with more investment in recruitment and training to provide long-term resilience.”
The meeting at Downing Street came as the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Andrew Opie, warned that the UK had just 10 days to save Christmas.
“HGV drivers are the glue which hold our supply chains together. Without them, we are unable to move goods from farms to warehouses to shops.
“Unless a solution can be found in the next 10 days, it is inevitable that we will see significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.”