David Davis promises Eastern Europe UK’s doors will stay open to low-skilled migrants
David Davis made the comments as he sought to reassure Europe that Britain will keep its doors open
EU workers will stay in the UK for “years and years” according to the Brexit minister - because Brits aren’t yet ready to fill their jobs.
David Davis made the comments as he sought to reassure Europe that Britain will keep its doors open to low-skilled workers in industries such as hospitality, agriculture and social care.
His claims seem to suggest Brits would be either unwilling or unable to take on the manual jobs that would become available if EU employees left immediately.
Speaking during a visit to Tallinn, Estonia, he said: “In the hospitality sector, hotels and restaurants, in the social care sector, working in agriculture, it will take time.
“It will be years and years before we get British citizens to do those jobs.
“Don’t expect just because we’re changing who makes the decision on the policy, the door will suddenly shut. It won’t.”
He added Britain has a “successful economy, largely - or partly at least - because we have clever people, talented people come to Britain.”
But other politicians slammed his remarks, which were reportedly made to news agency Bloomberg.
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Former Tory minister Iain Duncan Smith disagreed with his colleague’s estimated time frame, according to , saying: “My sense is that it is going to happen quicker than that.”
Millionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks told the paper that the Brexit minister’s comments were “quite astonishing”.
He added: “If you look at the figures, most people who voted for Brexit did so because of immigration and are going to ask what the point of it was if we don’t even control our own borders.
“They are going to be very disappointed.
“But the Tories have always been the party of business so it is of no surprise that the government has sided with them over the voters.
The row comes after the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) warned Britain would be unable to feed itself as crops would rot in the fields without tens of thousands of migrant workers.
The UK currently needs 75,000 seasonal workers to help pick and pack fruit and veg during the summer months, with most coming from eastern Europe.
But the figure is estimated to rise to 95,000 by 2021.
