London (Parliament Politics Magzine) – Sir Keir Starmer comforted businesses he is not going to “chop off their legs” with a rapid crackdown visa on for employees from abroad.
The Prime Minister emphasised that he did not want to make companies “fall over” due to a change in immigration policy. However, he also made clear that he expected leaders to work with the Government and town halls on building a skills system so people already in the UK could increasingly suffice jobs in construction, the NHS, care, IT, and other sectors.
What skills are lacking in the current UK workforce?
He also raised worries over the level of visa applications for posts in Britain where the number of apprenticeships for these roles was losing. He believes that this indicated that there was “something fundamentally wrong” with the nation’s skills blueprint at the juncture.
He was clear that he was not around to rush in a clampdown on workers from abroad. “What I’ve expressed to business…is I’m not going to chop your legs off by saying you can’t have the workers you need now,” he stated.
“If you need people to operate on the construction site now, next week if you need individuals in the care sector now, then I’m not going to be anti-business and state right that’s it, I’m afraid you are going to fall over. But I’m not going to tolerate this year after year after year. So, we have to work on this together.”
The Prime Minister acknowledges the UK’s current labour force system is not functioning properly. “I was very slapped with the number of visa applications for jobs that affected the skills where apprenticeship starts in this country have gone down,” he added, speaking to BBC radio.
“That signs to me that something is going fundamentally unfair. So, what I’ve said to business is I’m not going to chop your legs off, I’m not going to cause you to fail.