01/07/2023
UK GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE 55,000 VISAS FOR AGRICULTURAL SEASONAL WORKERS IN 2024
The UK government has announced that it will provide 55,000 visas for seasonal workers in the agricultural sector in 2022. Net migration is expected to hit a record high this year, despite calls to cut immigration from within the ruling Conservative party. Hardline Home Secretary Suella Braverman has argued that there should be more training for domestic lorry drivers and fruit pickers, but Downing Street has defended the visa allocation, saying that the UK's historically low unemployment rate means it needs this flexibility
The UK government promised to award 45,000 visas for seasonal workers in the agricultural sector next year despite calls from within the ruling Conservative party to cut immigration.
After a drop during the pandemic, net migration has been steadily on the rise and is expected to hit a record high this year, British media have reported. Official figures are expected this month.
Hardline Home Secretary Suella Braverman said at a conference in London on Monday that there was "no good reason" Britain cannot train its own lorry drivers and fruit pickers to drive down immigration.
British farmers have grappled with soaring costs with the pandemic's disruption of supply chains and the war in Ukraine driving up the price of fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy.
Tougher immigration rules following Brexit, which ended free movement within EU member states, have made it harder to hire workers from the bloc, which British agriculture has traditionally relied upon.
The industry is also facing competition from imported products.
Ahead of a UK Farm to Fork Summit hosted by Downing Street on Tuesday, the government said it will give farmers greater protections in future trade deals and prioritise new export opportunities.
British farming and British produce simply cannot be an afterthought. I know that is how some of you felt in the past," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in an open letter to British farmers.
The government last February announced that more than ยฃ168 million (193 million euros) in grants will be available to farmers this year to "drive the development of new technology and innovative ways of farming".
