News in brief: The UK government will continue to grant 45,000 visas per year to agricultural workers to provide stability in the horticulture sector. Despite domestic concerns about migration, the industry still depends on migrant labor especially more after Brexit.
The UK government has revealed its intention to continue granting 45,000 visas per year to agricultural workers. It says this will boost certainty in the horticulture sector. In December 2022, the government had promised the same thing for the current year, 2023.
However, reiterating the commitment was important given recent changes in attitude towards immigration. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, a right wing politician of the Conservative Party and outspoken critic of ‘lax’ migration laws, has kicked against reliance on migrant workers in the agric sector.
At a conference on Monday, she had encouraged the country to train its own lorry drivers, butchers, and fruit pickers. This came a day before the government reaffirmed its position on the agricultural visas policy. Her argument was that this will reduce the need to hire migrant workers.
However, a soft fruit farmer in the UK, who spoke to BBC on the issue does not believe this move will work. The farmer, Christine Snell, said that the industry has always relied on migrants. Brexit made it more difficult to easily find migrants for the jobs.
Since EU citizens could no longer enter the country, the special visa package became necessary. Snell narrated her experience during the pandemic, when there was little to no travelling.
“Out of the 300 we need, we were able to recruit about 35. Had I relied on them to pick the crops, the crops would have just remained in the field,” she said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to continue backing farmers and food producers, including their interests in trade policy and negotiations. He claimed that they are at the heart of the country’s plans to grow the economy.
In addition to opening its borders to migrant workers, the government also made several pledges to boost its agricultural sector including financing and new policies.
