Fewer EU migrants ‘will push up food prices’

Shoppers will have to pay more for fruit and vegetables as lower EU immigration pushes up costs, warns an Angus businessman.

James Porter, of Angus Soft Fruits, said the Scottish picking industry, which relies on EU labour, is 5-10% down on its required workforce following the Brexit vote.

He said the sector’s wage bill is going up because it has to pay overtime rates to address the shortfall.

Local figures from National Records of Scotland, which were published yesterday, showed net migration to Angus was down to just 68 people even before the Leave vote in June last year.

The net migration rate per 1,000 of the population was 0.58 in Angus in the year to June 2016, significantly lower than the 4.59 the previous year.

The national figure was 5.9, compared with Dundee (1.19), Fife (4.37) and Perth and Kinross (7.08).

“It’s definitely getting harder to get people over (from the EU),” Mr Porter said.

“We are still managing to get everything picked but our wage bill is higher because we are paying more overtime.”

He said the industry’s costs are also being driven up by the weaker pound because they rely on importing plants and machinery from the EU.

He added: “I think it’s pretty much inevitable that the cost of fruit and veg is going to have to go up post-Brexit to cover extra costs across the industry.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said firms in his north-east Fife constituency are also warning they are struggling to get the workers they need.

“The Conservatives’ pursuit of the most extreme interpretation of Brexit has already made EU citizens in the UK feel unwelcome,” he added.