A points-based immigration system will be used to attract workers to the country’s agricultural industry, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
Newly elected Angus MP Dave Doogan, who won the constituency for the SNP in December’s election, questioned Mr Johnson on the numbers being sought to work in the country’s soft fruit farms and other agricultural businesses in the wake of Brexit.
Currently a seasonal workers scheme has been put in place to attract fruit-picking labourers from countries outside the EU which has a limit of 10,000 – far below the numbers required according to the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFU Scotland).
Mr Doogan, who was speaking at his first Prime Minister’s Question Time, noted in Angus alone more than 4,000 seasonal workers are needed to prevent fruit from remaining unpicked.
He added he had written to Home Secretary Priti Patel asking for a review to the limits on the number of people allowed to come to the country to work.
Mr Johnson responded: “The gentleman raises an important point.
“We have doubled the scheme and we will make sure the entire country does have access to the seasonal workforce it needs.
“That is why we are introducing a points-based immigration system which will enable this country to get the skills that it needs.”
Commenting after, Mr Doogan said: “The agriculture industry is crucial to my constituency of Angus and Scotland’s economy – it creates and sustains thousands of jobs.
“Given that my constituency requires 4,000 seasonal workers alone – with neighbouring constituencies requiring a similar amount – 10,000 isn’t even enough for Tayside let alone the rest of Scotland and the UK.
“We’re on course to be dragged out of the EU against our will in a matter of weeks – we can’t afford to wait any longer. The Tories need to face up to the mess they’ve created and meet the needs of Scottish farmers by raising the seasonal worker cap.
“If they will not and choose to continue to fail Scottish farmers on this issue, Holyrood should be given full control over immigration to build a fair, common sense system that works for Scotland and meets the actual operational requirements of our agriculture sector.”
