wetherspoons boss wants more european immigration

[papasmurf]

our tighter border controls, you know, the one stopping 10,000 ISIS fighters

Tighter border controls, the British coast is a porous as a string vest, you could have an ISIS bomb maker living near you.

[Nick]

The problem where I live is as you state, plus the sheer numbers of people needed to fill all the crop picking and related jobs plus the staff for low pay seasonal tourism related jobs just not exist locally.
The other problem being a million of the foreign workers who used to do it have gone back to Europe since the start of the Pandemic, and Priti Patel won't let them back.
The derisory numbers being let back are totally inadequate.
When the hospitality industry is opened back up when the current Covid 19 regulations are lifted many of those businesses will not be able to function due to a lack of staff.
Edited to add petition related to the local problems:-
More at link:-
https://tinyurl.com/w7h9h6xh
Cap local rents, raise the tax on second homes and save Cornwall's precious coastal communities. Cornwall is dangerously on the brink of a homelessness crisis and Cornwall Council has to act NOW. We've had enough of second home ownership outpricing locals, leaving local homes empty and stripping communities of their heart and soul.

The latest second homes property frenzy in the county is the last straw.

It has seen an unprecedented 15% increase in local house prices since April last year, which as well as placing them well beyond the reach of local buyers, is now starting to severely affect the private rental market, leaving local families with simply nowhere to go.

Cornwall currently has more than 10,290 active Airbnb listings, yet in comparison, the housing website Rightmove had only 62 properties available to rent privately across the whole county on Friday evening (The Guardian, 30th May 2021).

This is a homelessness crisis waiting to happen and Linda Taylor needs to act NOW.

Firstly, the whole country has seen double figure price increases, why should Cornwall be any different.

Secondly, your left wing rag is talking absolute nonsense. Only 62 properties to rent in the whole country,
There is over 1,200 just in Lancashire.

[papasmurf]

These 2 million were working off grid

No they were not, the government due to piss poor records, did know they were here despite them paying NI and tax for in some cases decades. Had they not being doing so their applications would have been refused.

[Nick]

It is the one million who left who were doing the crop picking and the related jobs, and working in hospitality and tourism who now can't get back.

1 million left but as Barry says we found 2 million hiding in a bush. These 2 million were working off grid so you don't know what they were doing, they certainly weren't earning minimum wage and paying tax. As for the ones that left: tough titty, they should have stayed. The reason they can't get back is due to our tighter border controls, you know, the one stopping 10,000 ISIS fighters who are maybe sitting in boats off the UK coast. Remember, you're the one telling everyone know one knows where they are so it's a good job our borders are secure isn't it?

[papasmurf]

Remember when the remain campaign said there were 3 million EU citizens in the UK, not many, they said.
Since then, 5 million of them have applied for settled status. So that's 2 million extra we got already. That's a lot of fruit and veg pickers.

Those were here already and have stayed. It is the one million who left who were doing the crop picking and the related jobs, and working in hospitality and tourism who now can't get back.

[Barry]

The other problem being a million of the foreign workers who used to do it have gone back to Europe since the start of the Pandemic, and Priti Patel won't let them back.
The derisory numbers being let back are totally inadequate.

Remember when the remain campaign said there were 3 million EU citizens in the UK, not many, they said.
Since then, 5 million of them have applied for settled status. So that's 2 million extra we got already. That's a lot of fruit and veg pickers.

[papasmurf]

To get British people to do these jobs legitimately requires accessible and affordable local housing so that a labour force can afford to live locally, perhaps farms need to bus in extra workers from nearby towns themselves, and the pay needs to be at least equal to living wage levels. All of which will cost more, which perhaps means we will need to pay a little more for farm produce.

The problem where I live is as you state, plus the sheer numbers of people needed to fill all the crop picking and related jobs plus the staff for low pay seasonal tourism related jobs just not exist locally.
The other problem being a million of the foreign workers who used to do it have gone back to Europe since the start of the Pandemic, and Priti Patel won't let them back.
The derisory numbers being let back are totally inadequate.
When the hospitality industry is opened back up when the current Covid 19 regulations are lifted many of those businesses will not be able to function due to a lack of staff.
Edited to add petition related to the local problems:-
More at link:-
https://tinyurl.com/w7h9h6xh
Cap local rents, raise the tax on second homes and save Cornwall's precious coastal communities. Cornwall is dangerously on the brink of a homelessness crisis and Cornwall Council has to act NOW. We've had enough of second home ownership outpricing locals, leaving local homes empty and stripping communities of their heart and soul.

The latest second homes property frenzy in the county is the last straw.

It has seen an unprecedented 15% increase in local house prices since April last year, which as well as placing them well beyond the reach of local buyers, is now starting to severely affect the private rental market, leaving local families with simply nowhere to go.

Cornwall currently has more than 10,290 active Airbnb listings, yet in comparison, the housing website Rightmove had only 62 properties available to rent privately across the whole county on Friday evening (The Guardian, 30th May 2021).

This is a homelessness crisis waiting to happen and Linda Taylor needs to act NOW.

[srb7677]

The problem with fruit picking jobs is that they tend to be located in rural settings with feck all public transport to get people there. And the local labour force is disappearing because anyone desperate for a fruit picking job cannot afford the local rents and house prices, whilst all the council stock disappeared years ago, and so they move away. They tend to be replaced by affluent retirees who don't need to pick fruit for a living or second home buyers.

Anyone travelling from the nearest urban centre or town effectively needs to be able to afford and run their own transport, which cannot be done on a fruit pickers' wage.

The simple fact of the matter is that the pay is too poor and the transport infrastructure too non-existent for the unemployed to be able to get there.

Going back 25 years before the East Europeans cornered the market in cheap labour, I used to take a week off every September and spend most of it potato picking, paid cash in hand. Was about a 15 mile journey to get there and I had to put fuel in the motorbike. It was financially viable only because my main job paid for the bike, and the low pay was in addition to my holiday pay and the former not declared for tax.

To get British people to do these jobs legitimately requires accessible and affordable local housing so that a labour force can afford to live locally, perhaps farms need to bus in extra workers from nearby towns themselves, and the pay needs to be at least equal to living wage levels. All of which will cost more, which perhaps means we will need to pay a little more for farm produce.

[papasmurf]

So picking OK looking fruit and veg makes it a skilled job now?
Everyone who shops for fruit or veg in a supermarket must be incredibly highly skilled if that's the case .

That is frankly a bloody stupid comment.

[patman post]

Sis and me helped Gramps out on his plot when we were growing up. We were young — and also nearer the ground — but it was still hard work. In later teen years I laboured on building sites to pay my way. I wouldn't want to do either jobs now, but I might give it a go if I had to...

[Ratcliff]

it is a skilled job now.

So picking OK looking fruit and veg makes it a skilled job now?
Everyone who shops for fruit or veg in a supermarket must be incredibly highly skilled if that's the case .

[papasmurf]

They'd soon get fitter after a few shifts out in the fields
Crop picking is skilled labour ?

You really know bugger all about modern crop picking and it is a skilled job now.
Interesting article on the subject:-

More at link:-

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/17/laid-off-pick-fruit-seasonal-workers-special-skills

To point out the obvious, it's an incredibly physical job. Having worked as a fruit-picker for years, I can tell you that it's certainly not (as some television ads imply) wandering calmly through a field or orchard, casually selecting an apple or a cauliflower. You have to work quickly, carrying heavy bags of apples, or bent over picking strawberries, and, other than lunchtime, without the luxury of the familiar coffee break or chat in the kitchen with a colleague.

Every person has a quota, and in many places you're only paid by how much work you get done. There's a minimum wage, true, but if you don't hit the targets repeatedly you're likely to lose your job, and to meet those targets you have to work at full speed, all day. Even as a 19-year-old, by the time it got to Thursday afternoon the thought of having to do it all again the next day was difficult. The idea that these jobs could be filled by people who've spent most of their lives working in offices is not realistic, and many would be asked to leave fairly quickly.

There's also a lot to think about while you're harvesting fruit, it's not as simple as walking along and collecting everything in your path. When picking apples, you need to consider the size, the colour, whether they're damaged, how firm they are (different for each variety) – and making sure that you don't accidentally pick the pollinator tree with a different variety on it, thereby ruining the entire box of fruit. Pick poor-quality fruit, and it won't count towards your pay.

The issue isn't just money, though. These jobs simply wouldn't work for many people. They're located in specific regions, generally far from major towns and transport links. For those who don't drive or live in those areas, that means finding accommodation. Some farms provide this for seasonal workers, but it would need serious adaptation for social-distancing rules, and not everyone would be happy with the conditions. It's also not free, so people already paying rent or a mortgage on their home would be paying twice.

[Borchester]

They'd soon get fitter after a few shifts out in the fields
Crop picking is skilled labour ? East Europeans coming over to work on farms are all skilled ?  not just after a few months regular money for their labour?
After WW2 a popular paid 'holiday' for a couple of months taken by many poor Londoners (women especially) was hop picking in Kent, they were paid for their work and got free accommodation. They weren't skilled and they were not snowflakes, they just picked the hops.

And you had the bloody gangers checking to see if you had put a few stones in the sacks.

Which we did.

But as you say, not skilled work.

[Borchester]

I just want the personal attacks on me and lies about me  to stop.

Pappy, please don't take this personally, but you are a pathetic, whingeing old fool. If we all said good morning and made you queen you would still take it as a personal insult. Get out in the open air, grow some balls, act the man etc.

[Ratcliff]

Ones they are capable of doing, which if you knew anything crop picking you would know few people are fit enough to do it anyway employed or not.

They'd soon get fitter after a few shifts out in the fields
Crop picking is skilled labour ? East Europeans coming over to work on farms are all skilled ?  not just after a few months regular money for their labour?
After WW2 a popular paid 'holiday' for a couple of months taken by many poor Londoners (women especially) was hop picking in Kent, they were paid for their work and got free accommodation. They weren't skilled and they were not snowflakes, they just picked the hops.