Seasonal worker shortages of up to 75 per cent have been reported in some parts of the UK, sparking fears there will not be enough labour available to pick crops this year, according to The Grocer .
The Mail also picked up on the story and wrote: “The impacts of Brexit, with a large number of seasonal crop pickers traditionally coming from the EU, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and delays in issuing temporary visas have been blamed.”
It comes as a former British diplomat has claimed that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was behind comments in 2019 suggesting that the impact of a no-deal Brexit on Ireland would only “affect a few farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks”.
Visa delays
One senior food sector source told The Grocer the shortages had been driven by delays in the processing of visas, leaving some producers with just 25% of the workers they had originally booked in for harvest.
Julian Marks, group MD of global food and farming company Barfoots, said securing labour was an “ongoing challenge” and getting “pretty desperate”. The business is “just about keeping our heads above water, but it could change in 48 hours or a week depending on delays on permits”, Marks warned.
“The challenge for us comes in about a fortnight’s time when we have Tenderstem broccoli and courgettes come in together, and you still have asparagus [to pick now],” he added.
Marks also urged the government to get “moving now” to secure the sector’s promised 10,000 extra visas under its seasonal workers scheme.
Truss ‘turnips’ Brexit
A former British diplomat has claimed that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was behind comments in 2019 suggesting that the impact of a no-deal Brexit on Ireland would only “affect a few farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks”.
The claim, which has unearthed the comments from 2019, comes as Ms Truss continues to defend UK Government plans to legislate to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol as necessary to protect the Good Friday Agreement.
Alexandra Hall Hall, a former British ambassador to Georgia who was the lead Brexit envoy for the UK Government in Washington for several years, alleged that Ms Truss made the comments as part of a speech to a US audience in 2019.
She tweeted late on Wednesday: “So pleased to see Liz Truss become a genuine expert on Irish matters.”
“She was, after all, the Minister who told a US audience three years ago that Brexit would not have any serious impact in Ireland…it would merely ‘affect a few farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks’.”
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