We all want a high-wage, high-skill economy. But what does that look like? For Suella Braverman, speaking at the National Conservatism conference earlier this week, it’s one in which British workers are “trained up” to pick fruit, slaughter pigs and drive HGVs, so we are “less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour”. Meanwhile, we can only assume that we will continue to rely on immigrants to staff the NHS, work in care homes, and take high-paid jobs in the IT and finance sectors – all sectors in which the post-Brexit immigration system has led to significant increases in the number of people coming to work here.
It’s easy to mock the Home Secretary’s words, but they highlight some difficult challenges for any government seeking to boost productivity and wages. One of the key promises made by Vote Leave during the Brexit referendum was to end free movement and introduce “a fairer immigration system that is better for Britain, stops discriminating on the basis of where you come from, and instead allows us to pick people on the basis of skills”. And – in contrast with other Brexit promises – this one has been, by and large, delivered. But even for – indeed, perhaps especially for – its proponents, the new system isn’t necessarily yielding the desired results.
Content from our partners
