CBI backs workers from EU ‘because they’re cheaper’

EUROPEAN workers should be free to carry on coming to the UK to take jobs after Brexit, business chiefs have said.

The Confederation of British Industry insisted ‘reducing immigration is not the answer’ and claimed uncertainty was already making it harder for firms to recruit and hold on to staff.

But the lobby group was accused last night of trying to cling on to ‘cheap labour’ from overseas to boost profits.

Official statistics this week showed the number of EU workers in Britain reached a record high of almost 2. million in the 12 months to the end of September, with more than 100,000 arriving in the past year. Alp Mehmet, of the campaign group Migration Watch UK, said: ‘A continued flow of what amounts to cheap labour may contribute to business profits, but it will not lower immigration.’

The CBI’s comments came in a submission to the Migration Advisory Committee, which is examining the country’s migration needs after leaving the EU.

The group said: ‘A new system must be designed to allow continued access to the labour businesses need to grow, whilst also demonstrating this is controlled.’