(Glasgow)
(Con): ...We agree with the
first half of the Scottish Government’s motion, but we do not agree
with the portion that I must describe—with all due respect to the
minister—as rather empty virtue signalling about fees. EU nationals
with indefinite leave to remain will not have to pay a fee, and
those who need to pay will pay £65 if they are over 16 and £32.50
if they are under 16, which is significantly less than a British
citizen would pay for a passport. Nor do we agree that the United
Kingdom needs a differentiated or devolved immigration system.
Experts have warned that increased deviation is not helpful to the
economy. For example, a report that was published by the migration
observatory at the University of Oxford said that it is
“not clear that significant regional variation
would lead to a better match between policy and regional economic
needs.”
It also said that
“regionalisation has an economic drawback,
which is that a more complex immigration system would increase
administrative burdens for its users”—
that is, not just employers but
migrant labourers, too. The director of the Confederation of
British Industry Scotland has said the same thing, as have the
Food and Drink Federation Scotland, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
and NFU Scotland...
(North East Fife)
(LD):...We also know that many workers from
Europe provide a fantastic service to many local firms, including
the fruit and vegetable firms in my constituency, which are part
of a growing food and drink sector that hopes to double in value
by 2030. With new technology, we can extend the growing season,
which means that we need more workers. However, because of
changes in the exchange rate and the impact of Brexit, fewer such
workers are coming to this country, so we are left with rotting
vegetables and fruit in our fields. The new seasonal scheme for
non-EU workers is a step in the right direction, but it fails to
make up for losses of EU workers.
It is true that we were always going
to have to look beyond the EU for more workers, but the Brexit
scenario has crushed things into a very short period, so we will
have to deal with the consequences by bringing in even more
people to make up for the loss of people from the EU. The
Conservative Government shows no sign of understanding the real
needs of businesses—which is another thing that should be saying to his
colleagues at Westminster.
Of course, this issue applies not only
to seasonal workers. Processing plants such as
Kettle Produce and Marine Harvest in Fife require large numbers
of people all year round. One thing that we can be sure of is
that insisting that people have assets of £30,000 will repel an
awful lot more EU people. It will be much easier for them to go
to France and Germany, where there are no such requirements. Many
such workers come here from Europe. We should be welcoming them
to this country instead of repelling them...
(Mid Scotland and
Fife) (Con):...That is why those who call
for a distinct migration system for Scotland are mistaken.
Concerns have been raised by representatives of important
organisations in our economy, including CBI Scotland, the Food
and Drink Federation Scotland, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce
and NFU Scotland. Such a system would create unnecessary
additional bureaucracy, particularly for firms that operate both
in Scotland and the rest of the UK, and it is unlikely that it
would address the wider problem of Scotland’s poor economic
performance...
...The UK Government has set out a sensible approach that takes
the needs of all sectors of the economy into account. There
remains a demand for unskilled labour from outside the UK for
work in particular sectors and at particular times of the year—in
fruit and vegetable farming, for example. That has already been
discussed. The UK Government has recognised that and is trialling
a scheme that will allow farmers to employ migrant workers for
seasonal work for up to six months, to alleviate labour shortages
during peak production periods...
(Ettrick, Roxburgh and
Berwickshire) (Con):...UKHospitality notes
that
“MPs and witnesses suggested developing
temporary visas”
for seasonal work
“similar to those called for by the
agriculture industry, to support the industry post-Brexit.”
To read the whole debate, CLICK
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