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Following a recent report published by Workpermit.com, in which the Confederation for British Industry (CBI) urged the government to relax post-Brexit UK immigration rules, respondents to a recent poll carried out by the Express have urged Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, not to ease the rules despite thousands of businesses suffering staff shortages.
The results of the Express poll, which was carried out between 4.57pm on 29 June and 9.45am on 30 June, found that 89% of respondents didn’t want post-Brexit UK immigration rules to be relaxed.
Of the 4,564 people who voted, 4,046 said they wanted UK immigration rules not to be changed, while only 475 (11%) agreed that restrictions should be eased. Meanwhile, 43 people were undecided. Many Express readers also vented their anger at suggestions that the rules should be changed.
Better balance
One poll respondent, who was against the rules being relaxed, said: “Nope! We have to find a better balance between population numbers and public services, housing, NHS, GP, education, policing and crime, public transport, environment.”
Meanwhile, an Express reader commented: “Boris Johnson is walking a very, very fine line wrecking everything the Tories achieved if this happens.”
Another simply warned: “Definitely not.”
The poll comes amid news that an estimated 1.3 million non-UK workers have left Britain since late 2019.
EU citizens currently living in the UK had until 30 June to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and are now subject to post-Brexit UK immigration rules.
Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
Arguing that the rules should be changed, CBI President Karan Bilimoria urged Boris Johnson to tackle the issue of skills shortages largely caused by the pandemic and the introduction of even stricter UK immigration rules following Brexit.
He said: “Where there are clear, evidenced labour shortages, businesses should be able to hire from overseas. An evolving Shortage Occupation List could help.”
However, he went on to stress that hiring from overseas is not an ‘absolute solution’, and said that there must be continued investment in the domestic workforce too.
He said: “It’s not an either/or choice. We must do both to ensure that British firms have the access to people they need to succeed.”
A spokesperson for the government partially echoed Bilimoria’s comments, saying that employers should try to focus on hiring workers from the UK rather than overseas.
Package of measures
The government spokesperson said: “We’ve implemented an unprecedented package of measures to support businesses during the pandemic and our Plan for Jobs is helping people across the country retrain, build new skills and get back into work. We’re also working with industries to better promote jobs, training and a range of other initiatives.”
“The government carefully considered the Migration Advisory Committee’s findings and recommendations on the Shortage Occupation List. However, it was decided that wide-scale changes would not be made while the new skilled worker visa route is monitored and an assessment is made of the UK labour market to see how it develops and recovers post-pandemic,” the spokesperson added.
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