Brexit self-harm is self evident
SEEING EDINBURGH begin to open up again this summer after such a difficult 18 months has been fantastic, but as businesses start to get back to running at higher capacity, I’m worried about the effects of the UK’s departure from the EU. Analysis by UK Hospitality, found that 80% of UK hospitality businesses have reported vacancies for front-of-house staff and 85% for chef roles. I’m told Edinburgh’s numbers are similarly eye-wateringly high.
Many have started noticing gaps on local supermarket shelves as the shortage of HGV drivers reaches crisis point. Prior to the pandemic, UK road transport businesses employed 60,000 EU nationals, but this number has deteriorated drastically as the pandemic made it harder to recruit and train workers.
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed just how much we rely on our so-called “unskilled” workers, but the industries they work in will continue to struggle as long as the UK Government continues with its current immigration strategy and arrogant Brexiteer attitudes to sorting the problems out. Untangling the effects of leaving the EU from the effects of the pandemic is undeniably difficult but we can’t let Boris Johnson use that as an excuse to hide this rotten Brexit behind the tragedy of Covid.