The Prime Minister urged bosses yesterday to give Britain a pay rise – as he warned the era of importing cheap foreign labour was over.
Boris Johnson said low wages were playing a key role in the crippling shortages affecting everything from fuel supplies to supermarket shelves.
And he acknowledged for the first time that supply problems could continue right up to Christmas.
The PM insisted the festive period would be 'considerably better' than last year when millions were banned from seeing their families – but refused to rule out the possibility of shortages on shelves.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the Government should not be blamed if shortages wreck Christmas, saying: 'I don't believe in a command-and-control economy, so I don't believe the Prime Minister is responsible for what's in the shops.'
The run-up to this week's Conservative Party conference has been overshadowed by the fuel crisis and growing problems with shortages.
The PM said low pay was the key reason employers were struggling to fill vital gaps in their workforces.
The Prime Minister urged bosses yesterday to give Britain a pay rise – as he warned the era of importing cheap foreign labour was over
Boris Johnson (centre) said low wages were playing a key role in the crippling shortages affecting everything from fuel supplies to supermarket shelves
Speaking at the start of the conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson said wages had been 'totally flatlining for a decade' as employers relied on open-door immigration.
He said firms in areas of shortage such as road haulage and food processing would have to 'invest in... better pay', as well as improve training and working conditions.
He acknowledged that the HGV crisis was 'particularly acute in the UK', partly because of post-Brexit immigration rules. But he said the answer to labour shortages was not to increase immigration.
'The way forward for our country is not to just pull the big lever marked 'uncontrolled immigration' and allow in huge numbers of people,' he added.
With three days left at the conference, the proof is still in the pudding for Boris Johnson. But yesterday he said he'd 'love' to appear on The Great British Bake Off – as he told of his love for Bakewell tarts.
The Premier was speaking ahead of the event as he and Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Gorton, in east Manchester.
Asked whether he would like to be a contestant on Channel 4's Bake Off, Mr Johnson replied: 'I wish. I would love to do that. I don't think they have ever invited me.'
He admitted that it was 'a long time' since he had helped with household baking but revealed his favourite sweet treat is a Bakewell tart.
'If I was on death row I think I would have steak and chips followed by a Bakewell tart,' he explained. The Prime Minister also put on his boxing gloves at the Hideout Youth Zone and turned his hand to a game of table tennis.
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Mr Johnson, who has imposed a public sector pay freeze, said people had voted in the Brexit referendum 'for the end of a broken model of the UK economy that relied on low wages and low skill and chronic low productivity – and we're moving away from that'.
Tory sources played down speculation that the PM is considering a major increase in the minimum wage.
'That's not what we're talking about,' one said. 'This is a message to business that if they want to fill their vacancies they are going to have to pay people more.
'They are no longer going to be able to rely on cheap labour from abroad – they are going to have to adjust.'
Around 200 soldiers will start driving fuel tankers today in a bid to ease the petrol crisis that continues to grip parts of the country, particularly in London and the South East, although Mr Johnson said the crisis was 'abating'.
Ministers have also agreed to issue 5,000 temporary visas to foreign HGV drivers. A further 5,500 visas will be issued to poultry workers before Christmas.
Tory co-chairman Oliver Dowden said: 'We will make sure people have their turkeys for Christmas.'
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the Mail at the weekend that rolling shortages of key goods could continue for months and disrupt Christmas.
Asked about the comments, Mr Johnson told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'Rishi is invariably right in everything he says.'
The PM acknowledged that shortages of some key goods could continue for months, due to the 'stresses and strains' of a fast-growing economy.
'We are going to see a period in which the global economy, particularly the UK economy because of the speed of recovery, is sucking in demand very fast.'
Mr Johnson also rejected calls to allow in thousands of workers to fill other gaps in the labour market.
The pig industry has warned that 120,000 animals may have to be slaughtered and incinerated in the coming days because of a shortage of butchers and abattoir staff.
But the PM questioned whether there would be a 'great hecatomb of pigs' – a classical reference to ritual slaughter.
He added: 'What I think needs to happen is, again, there is a question about the types of jobs that are being done, the pay that is being offered, the levels of automation, the levels of investment in those jobs.'
Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors' Association, hit back last night, saying it was 'nonsense' to claim the problems in the sector were all down to low wages.
