PM urged to issue fruit pickers’ permit for seasonal workers

FARMERS have urged the Prime Minister to introduce a global fruit pickers’ permit for seasonal workers in order to meet the labour demands of the industry post-brexit.

Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers Union, will today meet Theresa May in Downing Street, where she will call for visa rules to be relaxed to ensure farms are able to recruit enough workers during the harvest periods. Farming employs 67,000 seasonal workers, with 95 per cent coming from other EU countries under freedom of movement rules.