Quote:

Nut roast anyone

No thanks. We've still got about 2 pigs' worth of pork in the freezer and are about to add another 2 to the tally.

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LT wrote:

Take a look at the U.K. unemployment rate in the 10 years prior to the Covid pandemic.

Then consider the fact that during that time period successive governments chose not to control or manage EU Freedom of Movement as they could have done.

Tell me. Could the FOM rules have stopped the exploitation of cheap labour from other EU member states? Yes or no.?

Paul J. wrote:

LT wrote:

Take a look at the U.K. unemployment rate in the 10 years prior to the Covid pandemic.

Then consider the fact that during that time period successive governments chose not to control or manage EU Freedom of Movement as they could have done.

Tell me. Could the FOM rules have stopped the exploitation of cheap labour from other EU member states? Yes or no.?

I think you must be confusing the abhorrent and illegal exploitation of illegal immigrants from outside the EEA with EU FOM.

The governments of EU member countries have always set there own minimum wages and individual employers are free to pay a wage above this minimum.

The fact is that the vast majority of employers did not deliberately seek to fill vacancies with migrant workers. They employed EEA migrants when they were the best or, sometimes, the only available candidates.

Before the disastrous decision to end FOM, among the reasons given by U.K. employers for why an EEA migrant might be the best candidate for a job, were:
• the necessary skills are scarce among the UK-born workforce;
• migrants often have a higher motivation to work so are more productive and reliable;
• migrants are prepared to do jobs in difficult conditions that the UK-born workforce
are not interested in.
• low unemployment means a low supply of UK-born workers.

All of the above is verified by the current labour shortages across many sectors.

HWN wrote:

I'm told that the abattoir near here (previously staffed mostly by Eastern Europeans) is having prisoners bussed-in from Swansea prison every morning (and back again in the evening) to get the work done.

Proof, not that it was needed, that the local workforce is not able to absorb the loss of the EU abattoir workers.