“Brexit Brief” – ISSUE 27

10 August 2018

 

Migrants are good for business, say people who should know 

 

The British Government has been urged to drop its “blunt target” on immigration numbers and introduce new freedom of movement rules to help the UK economy after Brexit.  

 

The call came from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the country’s foremost business organisation, following a major consultation with business leaders. The final report, entitled “Open and Controlled, A New Approach to Migration,” was published this morning and had some hard truths for those who seek to ignore the damage that restricting access to skilled labour from outside the UK will do to companies such as Eville & Jones after Brexit.

 

It stresses that EU migrants are “profoundly important” to the British economy and “will be needed in the future.” It continues: “The stakes are high. Get it wrong, and the UK risks having too few people to run the health service, pick food crops or deliver products to stores around the country.”  The report argues that it would be “entirely unworkable” to simply include EU nationals in the “highly complex” migration system for the rest of the world. The CBI also points out that immigration has “delivered significant economic benefit to the UK” over the past 50 years and maintaining access to people and skills is “a high priority for business in the UK as it prepares to leave the EU.”

 

In one of the largest consultations of its kind, the CBI conducted research and surveys of 18 different sectors of the British economy, including agriculture, and food and drink. It found: “The range of permanent agricultural jobs that are filled by non-UK workers is wide and varied – from highly-skilled vets, to semi-skilled dairy assistants, to lower skilled workers in the pig sector.” And in a crucial statistic that I will never tire of repeating, the report goes on: “Slaughterhouses are subject to regular controls and mandatory supervision by vets from the Food Standard Agency, of which more than 85 per cent are currently EU nationals.”

 

In its immediate response, the Home Office remained wedded to the position that it has no plans to scrap its target of reducing net immigration to “tens of thousands” annually.  However, we await the publication of a report from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), a non-departmental public body, to assess the contribution that EU citizens make to the UK.  The body has been talking to businesses, the NHS and universities, with its findings due to be made public in September. Following that, the British Government has pledged to set out its post-Brexit immigration plans, taking into account "the UK's social and economic circumstances and our discussions with the EU around our future relationship."  One remains optimistic that common sense will prevail but, for my part, you can remain assured that nothing will be taken for granted until that battle is won.  

 

 

Naked ambition unmasked – yet again

 

Following his resignation as Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson was back in attention-seeking mode again this week. As you may have heard, he penned a particularly unseemly article describing Muslim women wearing full face veils as looking like “post boxes” and “bank robbers.”  It has dominated the headlines in Britain for days so, from his point of view, it has certainly been mission accomplished in his barefaced quest to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister.

 

I mention this simply to reinforce how much Brexit now dominates UK politics, with the reaction to his ill-chosen words quickly dividing into Leave and Remain camps. Former Justice Secretary and pro-Remain campaigner Dominic Grieve made clear that he would leave the Tories if Johnson was ever to become leader, adding, “I don’t regard him as a fit and proper person to lead a political party and certainly not the Conservative Party.” In contrast, the response of arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg to news that Tory headquarters is to launch an investigation into Johnson’s comments was to attack Mrs May, claiming it is “not the job of the Prime Minister to tell backbenchers what to do.” This, of course, fits perfectly into Boris’s grand plan of taking her job.

 

Suddenly, the outcome and response to this internal investigation becomes very relevant to the fate of Mrs May, the UK Government and possibly Brexit itself. I did warn you that this political summer was unlikely to be a lazy one.

 

 

Meanwhile in America…

 

As if he wasn’t causing enough chaos here on Earth, this week US defence chiefs published plans to fulfil Donald Trump’s dream of establishing a “Space Force.” Yes, really. A newly published report called for the creation of a US Space Command to "improve and evolve space warfighting.”  Precisely which alien lifeform is to be targeted remains unclear.

 

Ever the businessman, President Trump believes that there are dollars to be made and the White House Gift Shop is already taking pre-orders for “Space Force commemorative coins.”  Should this intergalactic venture ever get off the ground, let’s hope the Commander-in-Chief chooses to pay an early visit to his star troopers and stays for a very long time.

 

Have a great weekend.   

 

Jason

 

Jason Aldiss BEM

Managing Director