“On immigration, it’s certainly not the Brexit I wanted,” said Lord Simon Wolfson, head of the Next retail chain. Immigration must be controlled in such a way that it benefits rather than cripples the economy, he told the BBC. “We have people lining up to come into this country to pick crops that are rotting in the fields, to work in warehouses that wouldn’t otherwise be able to function, and we’re not letting them in. And we need to take a different approach to economically productive immigration,” said Lord Wolfson. Since the new Brexit rules came into force in early 2021, EU nationals no longer have the freedom of movement to live and work in the UK. Instead, a new points-based immigration system has been implemented to attract skilled workers. The latest official figures show UK unemployment is at its lowest rate since 1974, while job vacancies remain at historically high levels. “There are a lot of vacancies, too many vacancies, it’s one of the things that causes so much inflation,” Lord Wolfson added. As Euronews pointed out, Brexit has contributed to chronic labor shortages in Britain in a number of sectors, including hospitality, agriculture and transport. A study published in August by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said evidence suggested the UK’s immigration policy was one of multiple factors contributing to the labor shortage. He noted that the number of visas issued to people from EU member states in 2021 for work and other reasons (43,000) had plummeted to a fraction of the 230,000-430,000 that came annually in the six years before the coronavirus pandemic. the new Brexit. restrictions came into effect. The report recommended extending visa eligibility for low-wage jobs to address gaps in the UK labor market. In his interview, Lord Wolfson also called for the labor market to be opened up internationally, but for companies employing foreign workers to be taxed to encourage them to hire from the domestic workforce first. “We are all stuck in this Brexit argument and we have to remember that what post-Brexit Britain looks like is not for those who voted for Brexit, it is for all of us to decide,” he said. “When you look at the majority of people in Britain, I think they have a very pragmatic attitude to immigration. Yes, control it where it is harmful to society, but let in people who can contribute.” The British government says it has delivered on its Brexit promise to “take back control” of the UK’s borders and that foreign workers can still enter via the skilled visa route or the seasonal farming scheme.
