Andy McDonald, a Labour MP who represents Middlesbrough and is the Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights, made the comments recently in the Northern Echo newspaper.
McDonald is quoted as saying that the UK Government has “failed to sufficiently invest in education and skills” to make recruiting entirely from the UK possible:
“How Covid has impacted on supply chains feeding into the UK is not something within the gift of the Government. However, how we left the European Union was and we are living with the consequences of the appalling management and negotiation of the process by Boris Johnson and his Ministers now evident in labour shortages in key sectors of health, care, hospitality, construction and logistics and others. It is no wonder the Road Haulage association are calling for temporary visas to be made available to EU wagon drivers so that we can get goods and supplies into our stores and construction yards. Simply telling businesses to recruit from within the UK is grossly insulting when it is this Government that has failed to sufficiently invest in education and skills to make that remotely possible. They should have been focussing on the details but have been too busy waging their culture wars and as ever turn to blame others for their gross incompetence.”
The opposition MP’s outburst comes after reports of companies in the food supply chain turning to prisoners in order to alleviate the staff shortages they are experiencing.
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