Union calls for relaxing of visas rules for temp farm workers
18 September 2014
The UK government must make it easier for migrant workers from non-European countries to gain temporary visas or put the country’s fruit and vegetable harvest at risk, said a leading trade union.
Thu, 18 Sep 2014The UK government must make it easier for migrant workers from non-European countries to gain temporary visas or put the country’s fruit and vegetable harvest at risk, said a leading trade union.
In 2013, more than 19,000 people from Bulgaria and Romania arrived in the UK to work on farms under the temporary visas but work restrictions were lifted when the countries became full EU members at the start of this year.
Speaking in the Financial Times, Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farming Union, said the abolition last year of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme means there are now not enough bodies to provide the labour needed to meet demand for British horticulture this year.
“There’s such an emotional argument about immigration, fuelled by Ukip, that it’s become political dynamite and I don’t think we’re going to get a rational discussion until after the [general] elections,” said Raymond.
A statement from the Home Office said there were no plans to bring in a new scheme to allow nationals from non-EU countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to work on UK farms during the peak harvest seasons.
It added that the industry should be able to meet demand for temporary workers from the UK and the rest of the EU.
In 2013, more than 19,000 people from Bulgaria and Romania arrived in the UK to work on farms under the temporary visas but work restrictions were lifted when the countries became full EU members at the start of this year.
Speaking in the Financial Times, Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farming Union, said the abolition last year of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme means there are now not enough bodies to provide the labour needed to meet demand for British horticulture this year.
“There’s such an emotional argument about immigration, fuelled by Ukip, that it’s become political dynamite and I don’t think we’re going to get a rational discussion until after the [general] elections,” said Raymond.
A statement from the Home Office said there were no plans to bring in a new scheme to allow nationals from non-EU countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Turkey to work on UK farms during the peak harvest seasons.
It added that the industry should be able to meet demand for temporary workers from the UK and the rest of the EU.
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