UK government rejects call for new visas to ease post-Brexit truck

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s government has rejected calls from retail and logistics companies to temporarily ease post-Brexit immigration rules which they say are contributing to a shortage of truck drivers and acute supply chain disruption.

Fast food chains McDonald’s (NYSE:), KFC, and Nando’s, as well as bakery chain Greggs, have all faced disruption this week as suppliers struggled to deliver to them.

Trade body Logistics UK said Britain currently had a shortage of 90,000 truck drivers, and on Aug. 22 it and the British Retail Consortium asked the government to grant temporary visas to truck drivers from the European Union.

Since Jan. 1, most EU citizens planning to work in Britain need visas which are typically only available for higher-paid jobs than those in the logistics and hospitality sectors.

Britain’s business ministry said on Saturday it did not expect these visa rules to change.

“We want to see employers make long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad,” a government spokesperson said.

The Times newspaper had reported earlier on Saturday that the government was considering bringing forward a review of visa rules to tackle the shortage.

Alex Veitch, general manager for public policy at Logistics UK, said he was disappointed by the government’s decision as it could take until early next year to work through a backlog of driving tests that had built up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The industry needs drivers now,” he said. “Logistics UK is frustrated with the government’s decision to reject the logistics industry’s call for temporary visas to be made available for EU heavy goods vehicle drivers as a short-term solution while new domestic drivers are recruited, trained and tested.”

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.