The chief executive of high street chain Next is urging the government to let more foreign workers into the UK to ease chronic labor shortages.
Lord Wolfson, who was a prominent Brexit supporter, said the UK’s current immigration policy is crippling economic growth.
He said companies should pay a tax to hire foreign workers to encourage them to recruit from the UK first.
The Home Office has been asked for comment.
“We have people queuing to come into this country to pick crops that are rotting in fields to work in camps that would otherwise be inoperable and we won’t let them in.
“And we have to approach economically productive migration differently.”
Lord Wolfson, a Conservative colleague, told the BBC that the government must decide whether the UK is an open free trade nation or whether it wants to be a post-Brexit “Fortress Britain” to hoist the drawbridge for foreign workers at significant cost Business.
“I think in terms of immigration, it’s definitely not Brexit that I wanted, or indeed a lot of the people who voted for Brexit, but more importantly, the vast majority of the country,” he said.
“And we have to remember, you know, we’re all stuck in this Brexit argument, we have to remember that post-Brexit Britain is not for the people who voted for Brexit, it’s for all of us decide.”
He added that the majority of people in the UK are “very pragmatic” about immigration.
“Yes, control it where it hurts society, but let in people who can contribute,” Lord Wolfson said.
He proposed a market-based solution to address the current labor shortages affecting sectors such as healthcare, hospitality and logistics.
- Where are Britain’s missing million workers?
He proposes that companies that need foreign workers should be able to pay a 10% tax on foreign workers’ salaries to the government to ensure that only those companies that genuinely cannot find British workers recruit abroad.
“That would automatically mean that companies would never bring anyone from outside if they could find someone in the UK,” he said. “But if they really can’t, they pay the premium.”
Lord Wolfson acknowledged that 2023 would be very tough for consumers and businesses but insisted many businesses should not expect government support, which should be targeted at those most in need.
He said “the last thing we want from them” is to give money to companies that don’t really need it because the government has “very limited resources to focus on the people who need help most during the coming recession.” .
“These are the people who are going to freeze and the people who are going to starve, not the companies who want tax breaks,” he said.
Lord Wolfson is widely regarded as one of the brightest minds in British business, and while he acknowledged that the next year would be tough, there were reasons for optimism.
First, unlike the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s, when entire industries and regions lost job opportunities, very few workers would be unable to find employment.
“While people are under pressure, it’s very unlikely they won’t find work,” he said.
Second, he said there were already signs — in the prices being quoted for future commodities late next year — that 2024 could see a strong recovery from the recession.
“The interesting thing about a supply-side recession is that the seeds of the correction are automatically safe. So when demand falls and factories become empty, prices start falling,” he said.
“Next year will be tough but there is no need for a national breakdown,” he added.
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