• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Brexit labour crisis forces UK farmer to kill hundreds of piglets

One Yorkshire farmer culled hundreds of piglets because of a processing backlog at local slaughterhouses.

Andra Maciuca by Andra Maciuca
2021-10-01 15:30
in Politics
piglet pig

Photo: PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A Yorkshire farmer has been forced to cull hundreds of piglets because post-Brexit labour shortages in local abattoirs mean adult pigs aren’t being slaughtered fast enough.

The backlog is leaving less space on farms for younger pigs, which are cheaper and easier to kill.

The farmer has been “destroyed by it”, a friend told BBC News. “He had to kill perfectly healthy, viable piglets. It’s desperate. I’ve been producing for 26 years, and never faced the prospect of having to butcher pigs on my own farm before.”

According to the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), around 80 per cent of staff in two big processing centres in Hull came from Eastern Europe before Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

But Nick Allen of the BMPA said the workforce is 15 per cent down on its usual size – and animals are mounting up on farms as a result, meaning farmers are “quietly starting to cull”.

“The main barrier is labour, with the change in the immigration policy. We are struggling to get butchers in particular, and it limits how fast you can run the plant,” he said.

“We were offering higher wages, but with the job market at the moment, it’s not worked. We do need access to some non-UK labour.”

Meryl Ward, who runs a family farm in Lincolnshire with 1,600 pigs which should have been slaughtered, said producers are “in despair”, calling the situation “criminal”.

She said the current crisis is the worst in 35 years of farming – with parallels being drawn with the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, and called for temporary work visas to be introduced to help pig producers.

RelatedPosts

White House ridiculed after posting ’embarrassing’ Superman Trump pic

Keir Starmer takes savage swipe at Farage as migrant return deal reached with France

Reform’s membership ‘falls by almost 10,000 in a month’

Putin’s ice-cold response to Trump threat to ‘bomb the sh*t out of Moscow’

“It’s such a massive national problem, it needs action and leadership from government.

“If they really care about farm animal welfare, if they really believe in UK animal production and the standards that we have are worth saving, we need some action,” she said.

A Defra spokesperson told the BBC that the government is closely liaising with the industry to help ease existing “pressures”.

Ministers are discussing plans to ease visa restrictions to let up to 1,000 foreign butchers into the country – but Priti Patel is reportedly resisting the move, citing concerns it is part of a wider push to return to free movement.

Butchers are considered skilled workers under the UK’s points-based migration system – and ministers are considering relaxing a requirement that they should speak a good level of English so more can come to the UK.

Related: Government asks winery manager with a motorhome to become HGV driver

Tags: Brexit

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← Oil firm – biggest shareholder major Tory donor – admits failing to stop staff paying millions in bribes ← Government asks Germans in the UK to drive lorries – but they never have
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->