Minister opposes ‘swamped by migrants’ comment from fellow MP
Britain needs migrant workers from the EU to fill unskilled jobs in the agricultural sector, environment secretary, Liz Truss has admitted.
When asked by the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme this weekend, Truss said she “accepted” that workers from outside the UK were vital to fill jobs gaps in the sector.
“I’m an MP in Norfolk, and there is an element of migrant workforce, that’s very true,” Truss said.
Her comments came as fellow Conservative MP, Michael Fallon, faced criticism for claiming that many towns in UK feel “under siege” from migrant workers and people claiming benefits.
Unless greater restrictions were imposed on the free movement of people in the EU, parts of the UK would be “swamped” by migrants, the defence secretary warned.
Last week, outgoing European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said Conservative plans to issue an annual cap on the number of low-skilled immigrants permitted to work in the UK was “not open for negotiation”.
Speaking to Sky News, Fallon said government proposals were “still being worked on at the moment to see what we can do to prevent whole towns and communities being swamped by huge numbers of migrant workers”.
"In some areas, particularly on the east coast, towns do feel under siege from large numbers of migrant workers and people claiming benefits. It is quite right that we look at that," he said.
"The original (European) treaty when it was drawn up 50 years ago did not envisage these vast movements of people, and we are perfectly entitled to say this needs to be looked at again,” he added.
The defence secretary has since retracted his comments, explaining that he “misspoke”.
“What I meant that there’s huge pressure on the system now, on schools, housing and social services,” he said.
Ed Miliband has promised “clear, credible and concrete” changes to immigration laws if Labour wins a majority in the next general election, including counting all people going in and out of the UK, and criminal sanctions for employment agencies recruiting exclusively from abroad.
But bringing workers from the EU into the country could have a positive impact on UK businesses, according to a report from the CIPD. Fifty-one per cent of organisations that employ workers from the EU also reported growth over the last two years, compared to 39 per cent of those that don’t import labour.
And to 26 per cent of organisations, a ‘difficulty in attracting UK-born candidates to fill unskilled or semi- skilled jobs’ meant that overqualified migrant workers were first in line to fill particular job roles.
“HR should see migrant labour as part of a committed and productive workforce,” said Gerwyn Davies, the CIPD’s labour market adviser.