The politics of lorry driving

To The Daily Telegraph

Hauliers knew for at least 18 months that we were leaving the EU, and there are currently 1.64 million people unemployed in Britain. What have they been doing to recruit drivers? Instead of waiting for the Government to bail them out, they should manage their businesses to meet demand.

The country has to stop relying on government to solve every problem that arises.

David Shadwell, Little Baddow, Essex

To the Financial Times

Being an immigrant myself, I realised how the smart and pragmatic policy in this country was to allow people in to do the types of jobs British people are simply not willing to do.

Young Britons are very unlikely to be attracted by physically draining and demanding jobs like picking berries or driving trucks. They are too busy going to university and most lead a comfortable life anyway. Dare I say, even if we double wages in this type of work it would simply reduce purchasing power. This would possibly mean even unhealthier diets for lowerincome Britons, less diversity on our shelves, and the persistence of scarcity for several goods, while it is unlikely to increase worker supply.

Labour shortages won’t disappear unless the Government moves away from its nativist approach to low-skilled and manual work – which is making the UK poorer along the way. Luiz Eduardo Peixoto, London

To The Daily Telegraph

We are told that we are transitioning from a low-skill, lowwage, low-productivity economy to a high-wage, high-skill, high-productivity one. I am puzzled as to how increasing the wages of lorry drivers will increase productivity. Will they be driving faster?

William Furness, Glastonbury, Somerset