Skilled migrant workers ‘vital for business’
Barclays boss speaks out on Brexit staffing fears
THE CHIEF executive of Barclays has said it is imperative that British businesses retain access to skilled foreign labour after the UK’s exit from the European Union. Jes Staley told The Yorkshire
Post said that a clever balancing act needed to be made between recognising concerns on immigration and ensuring businesses such as his were able to employ the best people.
In a wide-ranging interview Mr Staley also said that plans for high speed rail links to Yorkshire were “very compelling” and praised efforts to make the region act more collaboratively economically.
Mr Staley also predicted that Britain would remain strongly connected to the European Union following Brexit and that the City of London would retain its position as a global financial epicentre.
When asked what his principal hope for the Brexit negotiations was, he told this newspaper: “That the immigration policy of the United Kingdom be such that this country continues to enjoy the benefits of very talented, skilled labour from outside the UK and that the UK can have one of the best trained labour forces.
“For me what is more important than passporting is the immigration policy, and it is not just engineers and technicians, it is also skilled labour which I think is very important as well.
“I think balancing what the voters voted for in terms of controlling the country’s borders with making sure we continue to have access to the right labour pool is very important.
“And for us in the short term we have 3,000 workers here in the UK who are here under the European Union passports. Making sure that their future and destiny is made known as soon as possible is also very important to us.”
Mr Staley insisted that the banking industry was being listened to be Government regarding the Brexit negotiations but stressed the process of exiting the EU would be highly complicated.
“I actually think that the bank has got quite a robust discussion or communication with the Government.
“I have been very fortunate to have met a couple of times with the Prime Minister in her office. I was invited to a meeting with a secretary of state last Friday.
“This is a massively complex issue. It is going to be very, very difficult to get clarity and to lessen the uncertainties over the next couple of years.
“But that just is what it is when you are negotiating such a complicated trade deal between the European Union and the UK.”
With regards to the future of the City of London, Mr Staley said: “I think Europe and the United Kingdom will be linked in a very significant way for decades. And I just don’t think that is transportable in any short period of time.
“There is such a critical mass in London that I think London will continue to be an extremely important financial centre for the European Union.”
THERESA MAY and the Government’s perspective on Brexit is very different from the view held by many others. She will argue that she’s getting on with the job – Article 50 has been invoked, negotiations with the EU have started and the Great Repeal Bill will be published today.
However business leaders – the very people who know how to make money and create jobs – hold a contrary opinion. More than a year after the country voted to leave EU, they see a chaotic and confused government in which even the most ardent Brexit-supporting Ministers are flummoxed by the complexity of the challenge. After Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said the EU could “go whistle” over its financial demands, its chief negotiator Michel Barnier offered this retort: “I’m not hearing any whistling, just the clock ticking.”
Even though Brexit Secretary David Davis did, in fact, have a successful career in the private sector before becoming MP for Haltemprice and Howden 30 years ago, it’s surprising that not only is the Government unwilling to work with its political opponents, but it appears intent on excluding leading wealth-creators from the process. How remiss.
When individuals like Barclays chief executive Jes Staley warn that Britain must still be able to attract the brightest and best staff, or agricultural leaders say at the Great Yorkshire Show that the farmers require certainty more than anything else, Ministers should be utilising the expertise of those who genuinely want the best for their country. Not to do so would be just as reckless as Mrs May’s ill-fated decision to hold an unnecessary election in the first place.