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The UK has broken free of the curse of low wages, Kwasi Kwarteng declared yesterday.
The Business Secretary told Tories that Brexit was an ‘opportunity’ to reset the economy with higher wages and more skilled jobs – as ministers faced down warnings of a disaster due to labour shortages.
Farmers protested outside the conference over a lack of butchers, warning the shortage would result in the unnecessary slaughter of tens of thousands of pigs.
Yesterday Mr Kwarteng delivered a robust message that there could no return to the pre-Brexit reliance on high immigration and low-paid workers
Last night, Government sources said butchers were on the ‘skilled’ list and so could work in the UK provided they met language and salary requirements.
The farming industry wants some of the criteria to be relaxed.
On Sunday, Boris Johnson appeared to be unaware of the factors facing the industry.
Yesterday Mr Kwarteng delivered a robust message that there could no return to the pre-Brexit reliance on high immigration and low-paid workers.
‘As a consequence of Brexit we have essentially broken free of that model and what we want to do, what we want to go into, is a high-wage, high-skilled economy,’ he said.
No 10 insisted that the Government has been working with the meat processing industry to address concerns
Pig farmers say a lack of skilled butchers could lead to the ‘emotional and financial disaster’ of 120,000 animals being slaughtered on farms and then incinerated because they cannot go to the
